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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26250787">You’ve got the Crown (Don’t give it up)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiniko1898/pseuds/Shiniko1898'>Shiniko1898</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Broken Crown Still Shines [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, Humor, Kakashi is actually a good sensei, OC did not sign up for this, OC is not okay, Self Insert, and swords, and to not die, girl has issues, putting the fun in funeral, she really just wants a nap</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:55:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>75</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>86,864</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26250787</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiniko1898/pseuds/Shiniko1898</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Katsumi didn't exactly ask to be reborn. She certainly didn’t ask to be a Shinobi. But she’s here now, and she’s always been good at making bad situations work for her. And if all else fails, she’s more than willing to try out her swords on the problem.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Broken Crown Still Shines [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1920322</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>732</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1185</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She doesn’t quite remember dying. One moment she’s at a party she didn’t really want to be at, standing in the lawn talking about things she doesn’t really remember anymore, the next there’s nothing. <br/>
<br/>
She doesn’t remember being born again either. Awareness comes slowly to her, in bits and pieces, like trying to wake up too early after a night that was too long.</p><p>Her first concrete memory of this new life is of a man she knows must be her father. She’s not sure why she knows this, but she does. It’s funny, really, because he looks nothing like the father she used to have. Brown eyes instead of blue, long black hair instead of short blonde hair. This father though, seems just as tall as the one in her memories.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He is dressed strangely too. Her other father favored suits and ties and always had a phone glued to his hand. This one wears a green vest that reminds her of a jacket she’d once been gifted, but sturdier looking. Less for appearance and more for utility. His pants and shirt are both navy blue and when he bends down to pick her up and set her on his hip, a tired but happy smile on his face, she sees the headband, worn sideways on his forehead. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>It’s a childish thing, something her first father would have scolded her for, but as soon as she understands what she’s seeing she bursts into tears. Loud, wailing, pathetic tears that her first father would have yelled at her for. This father’s eyes go wide with surprise and instead of yelling at her, he rubs her back and tells her everything is okay, over and over again and asks her patiently to tell him what’s wrong. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She only wails louder. It’s too hard for her to form the words in the language he’s speaking and she knows he won’t understand the language she knows and how would she explain the problem anyway? How would she even begin to explain it?<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She tries desperately to swallow back her sobs and blink the tears from her eyes, she knows from her past life, fathers don’t tolerate such immature behavior from their children for long, if at all. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>When she has quieted herself down to watery hiccuping, this new father asks her in a voice that’s deep and smooth and filled with worry, “now, little one, can you tell your tou-san why you were upset?”</p><p> </p><p>She stares up at him, eyes big and wide, lips trembling and tries to find the words to speak, tried to find a passable lie. She settles for wordlessly reaching up and pointing at the forehead protecter he wears. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“This?” Her father looks perplexed as he taps the hitai-ate with a single calloused finger. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She nods, just once, and stares up at her honest-to-god Shinobi father. <em>Shinobi</em> father. The implications of that are overwhelming and terrifying and she seriously has to fight the urge to cry again. <em>Don’t you cry, </em>her old father’s voice snarls in her ears, <em>don’t you dare.</em></p><p> </p><p>”What about it, little one?” This father has a scar running down the right side of his face and when he pulls his eyebrows together it makes him look dangerous. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Having not planned this far ahead, she pauses, unsure of what else to do, she makes a grabbing motion at it. She wants to throw it. She wants nothing more than for it to go away, because that stupid forehead protector means her new, smiling, gentle father could die, could be <em>murdered</em> at anytime, it meant she lived in a terrible and bloody world and she needed it gone. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Her father (tou-san now?) doesn’t know she thinks that, though. He grins at her, bright and happy and pleased. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“You can’t have this one, Katsumi-chan, but one day, I promise you’ll have one of your very own. Just be patient, little kunoichi.”</p><p><br/>
Oh. Oh no. That’s not at all what she meant. She is numb as the full weight of what he said comes crashing down on her. Distantly she realizes she is giggling, little hysterical giggles that her father clearly thinks is joyful laughter. Her father is a Shinobi, he thinks she wants to be a Shinobi. She is going to die, she is absolutely going to die, but at least now she knows what name will be on her tombstone. That’s something at least. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the following months, Katsumi learns more than just her first name. She learns her full name is Ishihara Katsumi, and that her tou-san’s name is Ishihara Satoshi. She learns her mother, Ishihara Hana is dead, and has been for nearly the entirety of this new life of hers. (A mission gone bad, is the only explanation tou-san gives her.) She learns she’s a few months shy of five years old and that she still doesn’t like tea, unfortunate considering how much tea people here drink. She also learns that her father favors dual swords. Watching him flow through katas so gracefully it seems like he’s dancing becomes her favorite way to spend an afternoon. </p><p> </p><p>She also learns that despite being an only parent to a not yet five-year-old, her father has no qualms about leaving her with the neighbors for weeks on end while he’s on missions. She learns quickly that all the pleading in the world won’t make him stay.</p><p> </p><p>(It reminds her of her first father, who barely seemed to feature in her first early childhood, but this time there’s no mother to ease the sense of abandonment.)</p><p> </p><p>The neighbors are shinobi like her father, and which one watches her depends entirely on who isn’t on a mission at the time. It’s not uncommon for her to end up passed between various shinobi multiple times before her father returns home.</p><p> </p><p>Each of these shinobi seem to struggle understanding how to treat a child, instead training her as if she is already an academy student or genin. The kunoichi two doors down likes to teach her about poisons, but not antidotes. One man insists she meditates for hours on end. Some run her through various Taijutsu katas (no two shinobi teach her the same ones, however, and it’s all very confusing and she has terrible balance and fails more often than not). Others make her practice weaving handsigns until her hands cramp and her fingers are numb. The man in the hideous green jumpsuit (Maito Gai, she remembers from the story in her last life) likes to make her run and do push ups and sit ups and for all his enthusiasm she hates staying with him. <br/><br/></p><p>The man who likes to chew on a senbon insists on teaching her how to throw kunai and shuriken and senbon with deadly accuracy. He’s patient as they come when she struggles to hit the targets, throwing weapons doesn’t come naturally to her for all she enjoys trying. Senbon, she decides, are the most fun to play with, but she thinks kunai are more useful any day of the week. <br/><br/></p><p>It’s her father, however, who places live steel in her hands. She’d thought he’d start her with a wooden bokken to teach her the kenjustu katas he used, But no, he hands her a deadly sharp sword and insists she will master it. <br/><br/></p><p>The sword is heavy and menacing and Katsumi’s arms shake when she holds it up for more than a minute. Tou-san just smiles at her when she complains and tells her she’ll grow into it. <br/><br/></p><p>For all he’s absent so often and for all she doesn’t want to be a shinobi, whenever he praises her and looks on with pride when she demonstrates what the neighbors have taught her, she is filled with warmth and wants to learn more just to continue getting that approval. <br/><br/></p><p>Just as her last life taught her fathers hate crying, it also taught her that how much love she is given by her father is directly correlated to how much she lives up to whatever standards are set for her. <br/><br/></p><p>Katsumi knows that she only has a few years left before tou-san signs her up for the academy but already the thought of it exhausts her. She dreads having to meet whatever standards will be expected of her there, she knows tou-san will want her to excel, she doubts he’ll accept anything less, and already she feels weighed down by expectations that haven’t even been voiced yet. <br/><br/></p><p>Thankfully, it’s peacetime and her father doesn’t even consider making her attend even a second earlier than necessary. While it would be nice, to get to be around other children, because reincarnation or not, in this life she is a child and she just wants a single friend, she isn’t read to return to a school of any form. (She’d died the first time in college she recalls, she’d spent an entire life in school, now she’s reluctant to return.)</p><p> </p><p>For all her father and many babysitters teach her, it is clear she’s no prodigy. Everything involving physical training is a struggle and it’s only through sheer determination and a single-minded focus that she sees any progress at all. <br/><br/></p><p>(The purpled hair kunoichi who teaches her poisons, however, swears Katsumi is a poison specialist in the making. Katsumi just thinks it’s interesting knowing all the ways innocuous powders and liquids can do damage.)</p><p><br/>In her last life, Katsumi wanted to be a nurse, wanted to heal and help people. In this one, she thinks that’s extraordinarily hilarious, since she’s not even five yet and can recite the effects and best methods of delivery of at least twenty different poisons and has already been told the most efficient methods of killing a man. <br/><br/></p><p>Hopefully no one ever gets a chance to use those methods on her. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katsumi learns that she loves writing the characters that make up her new language. They look beautiful to her, like art. The complexities of the meaning can make her head hurt but writing them is fun. When she learns her name has actual meaning in this life, not just a random name plucked from the air because it sounded nice, she is thrilled.</p><p>It was her Kaa-san, she is told who chose her name. The chosen kanji mean victory and beauty and it feels as if her mother granted her a benediction when she chose her name. It fills her with a sense of pride whenever she thinks about how the mother she had no memory of had gifted her with a name that has actual meaning.</p><p>When she first sees a picture of her mother, Katsumi goes very still. In her old life, her mother had warm brown eyes and beautiful blonde hair and a wide smile. In this life her mother had been just as beautiful as her first mother. Her kaa-san’s eyes were a pale green and her hair was a brown and cut in a chin length bob and her smile was secretive and cunning and she wore her hitai-ate loose around her neck in the picture.</p><p>It leaves Katsumi with an odd sense of grief. She had never known Hana, did not have a single memory of this mother, and yet seeing her face for the first time makes something in her chest ache. This woman had given her life and a name that was also a blessing and died before Katsumi was old enough to crawl.</p><p>It feels wrong and awful that her mother isn’t here to teach and raise her alongside tou-san. The apartment she and her father live in has never felt too big until she is looking at the face of a woman she would never know. She wants to know everything about her mother. Needs to know. Tou-san for all he is patient and kind and open with her, never discusses her mother with her. Never speaks of her unless she asks first and then never in depth.</p><p>She knows she has her mother’s eyes, pale green like the mint ice cream in her last life. She wonders if that’s why her father doesn’t always look her in the eyes. It pains him to talk of the wife he lost, so maybe seeing her eyes in the face of his daughter is unpleasant to him.</p><p>She learns from the senbon man, Genma, she finally manages to learn his name, that her mother had specialized in assassinations, and that despite not being a frontline fighter, was an absolute nightmare to face. He tells her if she becomes half the Shinobi her mother was, she’ll be a nightmare too.</p><p>A nightmare? It’s sounds almost like a compliment. She may not want to be a kunoichi, may be terrified of what her future entails, but she thinks if she has to be a kunoichi, she wouldn’t mind being a one that’s described as a nightmare.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Again.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-san’s voice is calm as still water and firm as rock. He is watching her with the same never ending patience he always does as he has her practice her kenjutsu katas, wakizashi in hand. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">At almost six, Katsumi has been struggling with the sword for over a year now. The weight of it makes her skinny arms shake and she’s cut herself more often than she cares to count, but she’s learning. slowly, but still, she is learning to move like her father, to wield a blade like an extension of herself, though she knows she would hardly hold up against anyone who actually wanted to hurt her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She is dripping sweat and her arms are barely able to stay up and her fingers are aching from holding the sword for so long, but she obeys her father and begins the set again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With each move she feels closer and closer to collapsing, wants nothing more than to take a warm bath and curl up in her little bed and sleep for a month. She resists the urge to complain though. If she is to be a kunoichi she must be able to work through the pain, must be able to grit her teeth and keep moving. It’s the first lesson her tou-san taught her, to show weakness, or worse give into it, is to die. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She knows that next week her time at the academy will begin. Knows she will start officially in this path she accidentally stepped onto when she reacted to her father’s hitai-ate. Tou-san will start taking the long term infiltration missions he used to take before Kaa-san died and left him alone with a baby. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Better,” he says when she finishes the final move, “still shaky, and your balance needs improvement, especially during the transitions, but you’re progressing quickly.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s not a compliment, she’s learned, it’s a statement of fact. Her father gives her praise and criticism in equal measures during training. For all he is gentle and kind with her, he is an unforgiving Sensei, but she supposes, if she had a child she was training to be a killer, she’d probably be the same way. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tou-san? Are you going to be there for my first day at the academy?” It’s a childish question, but she wants her father there with her, wants him to see her off for her first day. Doesn’t want to have to walk to the academy alone.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His face softens and he ruffles her hair with one hand, “of course, little one, I wouldn’t dream of missing it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She stares up at his face, feeling so, so small as she cranes her neck to do so. It seems impossible to her that she would ever move with a sword the way he does, would ever be able to make lethality look beautiful the way he does when he runs through the katas. It seems impossible that she could ever be as good a Shinobi as him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good,” she nods firmly at him, trying to look as stern as she can, but she knows as tiny as she is no one would take her seriously. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-San grins down at her, his teeth sharp and gleaming in a way that seems natural only because she has grown up seeing them. Her teeth aren’t anywhere near as sharp and vicious looking as his, but he assures her whenever she mentions it that one day they will be. She wonders if people will be as unsettled by her then as they are by her father now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I think you’ve done enough for today, go get cleaned up, dinner will be ready in an hour or so.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Thank kami, she thinks, sliding the sword back in the the sheath the rests across her back, finally she can rest. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The morning she’s due to start the academy, Katsumi wakes early, well before she needs to be up. <br/><br/></p><p>Her stomach flutters with something that hovers between fear and excitement. It reminds her of how she felt when she went zip lining for the first time in her last life. Like she can’t decide if she wants to dive in head first or run and hide. <br/><br/></p><p>Regardless she dresses carefully today. She dresses in black pants that look like children versions of her father’s jonin standards, something he bought her when she absolutely refused to wear skirts or dresses. She’d hardly worn those in the first life, now they’re just entirely impractical. The wire mesh undershirt is another purchase made out of practicality. If Katsumi is going to be a Shinobi, she is going to be a proper one. The light green tank top she wears over it is the only part of the outfit that wasn’t purchased entirely with function in mind. The fact it reminded her of her tou-san’s flak jacket had greatly contributed to the decision.</p><p> </p><p>Katsumi takes the time for once to pull her hair up into a neat pony tail, rather than the messy rat’s nest looking ponytail she normally wore. She is determined to make a good impression, determined not to embarrass her tou-san on the first day of the academy. <br/><br/></p><p>Satisfied that she looks presentable, she proudly marches out of her little bedroom to go searching for Tou-san. It’s early for her, but she knows he is probably up by now, already running through his morning stretches and katas.</p><p> </p><p>Their apartment sits right on the edge of the Shinobi district, where the forest meets the village and when she peaks out the window she can see her father under the trees, running smooth as silk through katas far too complex and advanced for her to even consider attempting. <br/><br/></p><p>Not for the first time, she wonders if kaa-san had ever joined him on mornings like this when she lived. Katsumi tries to picture the green eyed woman moving fluidly along side her father, but it’s a impossible. She has no idea if her mother even used swords. <br/><br/></p><p>Reassured that her father is still walking her to the academy, she flicks the lights on and begins to rummage through the fridge and cabinets looking for something she can eat without cooking. <br/><br/></p><p>Before she can grab anything though, large hands lift her up by the underarms and set her on the ground. Tou-san stares down at her, one eye brow raised expectedly. <br/><br/></p><p>Katsumi grins widely up at him, entirely unrepentant, and chirps, “good morning, Tou-san!”<br/><br/></p><p>“Good morning, Katsumi, since you’re already hunting through the kitchen, why don’t you help me make breakfast?” <br/><br/></p><p>She pouts up at him for a moment, before obediently fetching every ingredient he requests and cleaning up as he works. They’ve done this so many times before she hardly needs him to tell her what to do. By the time they are done, they have grilled fish and fried rice sitting on the tiny table they have shoved up against the wall. Katsumi is almost certain this is one of the only meals her tou-san knows how to make, considering they have it nearly every day. <br/><br/></p><p>She sits tucked into the corner, where no one could see her through the window, while tou-san sits across from her where he has complete view of both the door and window. They’ve always sat like that, hiding her away while he keeps a casual guard. <br/><br/></p><p>“You’re an official academy student today, little one. Are you excited?” Tou-san’s voice is as smooth and calm as ever, but she can hear the undercurrent of pride and happiness. He always sounds that way when discussing her future as a Shinobi of Konoha. Privately, she wonders if he’d have been half as proud if she’d wanted a civilian job and a civilian life. </p><p> </p><p>”Yes, tou-san, but what if I’m bad at it? What if no one likes me? What if I don’t have enough chakra?” These are childish worries she normally keeps locked away, but at the moment she’s so nervous she can’t keep from voicing them.</p><p> </p><p>He laughs lightly at her, “Katsumi-chan, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but you are actually quite advanced already, at least in the more physical aspects, I suppose we can blame that on your many babysitters who think training and play are one and the same. And of course you have enough chakra, they wouldn’t have allowed you entry if you didn’t. Don’t you remember when you took the entrance exam they had to test you for your chakra reserves? You have more than enough to start. As for friends, little one, you will find children to bond with. These are going to be your future comrades, I promise at least one will like you.”</p><p> </p><p>Katsumi stares wide eyed at her father and nods sightly. It is the exact reassurance she needed and once again she feels a burst of love for her wonderful, kind father.</p><p>Together they clean and dry the dishes, and once finished, she looks expectedly up at him, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. <br/><br/></p><p>With a good natured eye roll, he lifts her up and sets her firmly down on his shoulders. Katsumi giggles and holds onto the top of his head for balance. <br/><br/></p><p>“One day, Little one, you’ll be too big for this, you know,” Tou-san tells her as he walks them down the stairs and into the street. <br/><br/></p><p>“But not today!” Katsumi retorts happily, looking around at everything as they walk. From her father’s shoulders she can see so much more than usual. It makes her feel like a giant, being able to look down on people’s heads instead of straining to look up that them. <br/><br/></p><p>Civilians give her father a wide berth, the flak jacket reminding them that they live among mercenaries and killers, something civilians tend to prefer to forget. On top of the flak jacket, she knows her father is grinning in amusement at her antics, and that with his sharp, feral looking teeth, it looks like he’s baring his teeth at everyone around them.</p><p> </p><p>The result is a two meter radius of empty space around her father, and many people either avoiding eye contact or watching him nervously from the corners of their eyes. It’s funny to her, that anyone could ever look at her father feel threatened by his mere presence. <br/><br/></p><p>When they arrive to the gates of the academy, Tou-san gently sets her down and kneels down to her level.</p><p> </p><p>”I know we aren’t clan, but you’re in the class with the clan kids, since you’re a second generation shinobi brat, that means you’re going to be in a bit more of a fast paced environment, which I think will do you a lot of good. I know you’ll do great, don’t give your Sensei gray hairs, got it? I’ll never hear the end of it if you do.” <br/><br/></p><p>Katsumi smiles slightly at the teasing, “Yes, tou-san! I’ll be good.”</p><p> </p><p>He ruffles her hair and says, “I know you will be, run on in, now, you don’t want to be late on the first day.”</p><p> </p><p>Katsumi’s eyes widen slightly at that and she takes off running to the doors of the academy, just before she enters, she looks back at her tou-san one more time to wave at him, but he’s already gone. </p><p> </p><p>She takes one steadying breath, straightens her shoulders and walks in, head held high. Katsumi is determined to have a good first day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first day is... a bit of a let down, honestly.</p><p> </p><p>Katsumi had expected that when Tou-san said it was fast paced that she’d feel a little challenged at least. In reality, the first day goes like any first day does, skimming over and touching on all the topics they’d eventually go over but not going in depth with any of it. <br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Akihiro-sensei is nice though. Greets them each with a smile and their names. She wonders if he sat down the night before to memorize whatever meager files the academy had on them, in her last life, teachers didn’t know who you were until they met you. Privately, she thinks he looks a bit young to be a sensei, but that’s her last life speaking.</p><p> </p><p>The class is bigger than expected too. There’s at least thirty students here with her. For a girl who’d never been around anyone her age before it’s nearly overwhelming how loud and energetic they all are. She’d gotten used to the quiet calm of her father and the other Shinobi. (With the exceptions of Anko and her loud exuberant voice and Gai with his... well, his whatever it was.)</p><p><br/>
For the first time she’s not the shortest person which gives her a tiny thrill. The other students are her size! It makes her a bit more confident about trying to make friends, a skill she’d never quite mastered in her last life either. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She finds an empty seat by a boy who seems to be asleep, she hopes when he wakes up he won’t mind her sitting here. He looks vaguely familiar but she can’t place him and doesn’t want to be rude by staring at him until she remembers how she knows him. In front of her, she can see an Inuzuka and his puppy, laughing loudly at the center of a group of other children’s attention. She recalls when she first learned the Inuzuka had dogs and how she’d begged tou-san for one for days before he finally put his foot down. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She can vaguely recognize what clans the most of other children come from. She can see a tiny Hyuuga girl tucked away from everyone, and a Yamanaka girl loudly scolding an Akimichi boy. Wincing slightly at the shrillness of the girl’s voice, she turns her attention elsewhere. She knows her father can use his chakra to increase or decrease his hearing whenever he wants and she dearly wishes he’d taught her that already. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>It’s the Uchiha children that catch her attention the most, because seeing them fills her with a sense of dread. She knows from the story in her past life that something happens to them, but she has no idea what or when it does. Seeing a small group of them feels wrong though. She knows that’s not right, that there shouldn’t be that many. She decides she’s not going to make friends with them, something bad will happen and since she can’t remember what, the safest thing for her to do is avoid them just in case. It is disappointing to have to limit herself friend wise, though. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Alright, students! That’s enough, sit down, we have a lot to go over today!” Akihiro-sensei’s voice projects loudly through the classroom even though he didn’t yell. With some shuffling and muttering, the class settles down into their chosen seats. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>As Akihiro-sensei talks about how the classes will work and what to expect and the rules (so many rules!) the boy beside her sleeps on. Hesitating for a moment, Katsumi pokes his arm once, when that doesn’t do anything she does it again. And again. And again. Until she’s lost count of how many times she’s done it and somehow becomes more focused on that instead of what Sensei is saying. It’s vaguely concerning to her how hard the boy is sleeping, she’s been taught ninja need to be light sleepers, prepared to spring to action at the slightest prompting, it’s strange to her that this boy apparently wasn’t given that lesson. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She pokes him harder, determined to wake him up. It’s important that her future comrades learn everything they’re supposed to. If they don’t they could get hurt or she could get hurt or the mission could fail and that just won’t do at all. So she makes it her personal mission to make this kid pay attention. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Changing tactics, she starts shaking him sightly, trying her best not to draw Sensei’s attention to the boy. She wants him to wake up but she doesn’t want him to get in trouble for sleeping. She knows sleep is important, Tou-san is practically comatose immediately following his missions after all. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>By this point she’s completely focused on her self imposed mission and has no idea anymore what Sensei is discussing and that’s not good. She needs to know everything to be a good shinobi, and to avoid her father’s disappointed sighs and looks. So fed up, she hooks one foot around the leg of the boy’s chair and jerks it up and to the side, doing her best to startle him awake without causing a scene. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The problem is she overestimated the force she’d need and suddenly the boy’s chair is falling over and he’s flailing a bit and she’s trying desperately to correct it.</p><p>It ends with the boy flat on his back on the floor staring up at the ceiling, Katsumi holding her hands to her mouth in shock, absolute dead silence in the class and Sensei looming over the pair with a terrifying expression on his face. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>No, this is not how she thought her day was going to go at all. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Can’t believe I got detention on the first day. What a drag.”</p><p> </p><p>The boy, Nara Shikamaru, mutters in a lazy, irritable drawl. His voice sounds like it’s too much hassle to speak any faster than that. <br/><br/></p><p>Katsumi gives him a dirty look as she sweeps under the desks, “you shouldn’t have been sleeping during class anyway. It would have gotten you in trouble, either way.”</p><p> </p><p>”Wouldn’t have gotten me detention, though. Not like what you did.” He rolls dark eyes as he cleans a desk at a snails pace. <br/><br/></p><p>“How would you know? It was the first day!” She’s still embarrassed at The Incident as she now calls it in the privacy of her mind. She’d never been so embarrassed in the entirety of this life, but it reminds her more than she would care to think about of the life she used to have. It had been full of embarrassment and she loathed thinking about it. <br/><br/></p><p>“Exactly, it was the first day! Akihiro-sensei wasn’t going to put someone in detention for not paying attention on the first day! Not like we were going to learn anything today.” <br/><br/></p><p>Katsumi’s ears burn in embarrassment, because that makes sense. She knows she’s in the wrong but she was just trying to be helpful and she didn’t mean to knock the chair over. Just unbalance it enough to startle him awake. Tou-san is going to be so disappointed with her. <br/><br/></p><p>The thought makes her sniffle a bit and her eyes burn like she’s going to cry. Horrified, she does her best to force that feeling down, but now that she’s thinking about how her father would sigh and shake his head and look at her with disapproval the way he does whenever she does something she’s not supposed to, it’s hard to stop. Before she knows what happened, tears are tracking down her face, but she manages to cry quietly. Doing her best not to draw Shikamaru’s attention to her crying. <br/><br/></p><p>It fails and he looks like he wants to be anywhere but near her and her tears. Still, he tries in the awkward, half hearted way people who are uncomfortable with crying do, to calm her down. </p><p>“Hey, look, don’t, don’t cry okay? It’s not that big a deal, it’s not like we got kicked out of the academy or anything. Yeah, cleaning the room is troublesome, but it’s fine. So, uh, yeah, please stop crying.”</p><p><br/>Katsumi wants to sink into the ground. She hates crying, hates looking like a weak little kid. She knows it’s unbefitting of a Shinobi to break down in tears all the time, but getting detention on the first day and anticipating her father’s reaction has made today terrible. She didn’t even make a friend today, too busy worrying over detention to try. <br/><br/></p><p>The boy mutters a curse under his breath and inches over to her slowly, like she’s a dog that might bite him or something, and awkwardly pats her twice on the back. They stay like that for a moment, as she wipes her tears away and he looks on uncomfortable and bemused.</p><p> </p><p>”Look, um, I didn’t mean to make you cry. So, maybe if you want you can come over after we’re done and we can play shogi or something. My parents won’t mind.”</p><p> </p><p>The offer is even more awkwardly said that the attempts at comfort he’d given her. Like he wasn’t sure if that would be the right choice. Katsumi’s breath catches though, because she just got invited to his house. Another kid just asked her to do something friends do. <br/><br/></p><p>She nods at him and grins widely. She has a friend, one she’s going to play shogi with. Whose house she gets to go to today. A real friend. Suddenly she’s buzzing with joy and energy and even though she’s never played shoji, only has a vague understanding of what it is, She’s certain it will be her favorite game ever. After all, her new friend wants to play it with her. <br/><br/></p><p>Shikamaru seems startled at the sudden mood swing but smiles sightly in return and mumbles, “troublesome.”</p><p> </p><p>Katsumi’s smile just widens at that as she returns to cleaning with a new burst of energy. It’s okay if he thinks she’s troublesome, because he’s her friend now and he doesn’t seem to mind it.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katsumi loves the Nara compound. When Shikamaru lead her there, she’d had no idea what to expect. She’d never been in a clan compound before, but she decides the Nara compound is amazing. The homes are spaced comfortably apart and there are trees everywhere, something that is so common in Konoha, but seems more beautiful here. It’s peaceful and relaxed and she decides it suits her new friend well. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>His home is huge in comparison to the little apartment she and Tou-san reside in, but it has a lived in feel that makes it seem homey. It’s obviously a shinobi built home, though. Designed to minimize places an attacker could hide or ambush a person from, while maximizing a shinobi’s ability to attack if necessary. She can see seals carved onto the wood of doorframe, nothing she understands but she assumes it’s nothing to scoff at. Her tou-san liked to warn her to never take fuinjutsu lightly. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Shikamaru’s kaa-san is a pretty woman who smiles softly at her when Shikamaru introduces her. It’s strange how terrified of her he seems, until he explains the detention and her smile becomes fixed and dangerous looking. An air of menace seems to surround her suddenly and okay, Katsumi kind of understands Shikamaru’s terror. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Yoshino-san doesn’t do anything, though, just ushers them out to where the shoji board sits and tells them to have a good time. It seems to make Shikamaru even more nervous than before, like he’s waiting for his execution. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Katsumi looks at the shoji board and all the little tiles one it and looks up at Shikamaru sheepishly.</p><p> </p><p>”I don’t actually know how to play.”</p><p> </p><p>Shikamaru rolls his eyes mutters another troublesome and begins to break down the rules and explain the pieces. It reminds her a bit of chess, a game she thinks she’d played in her last life. Now, Katsumi is worried about getting the rules for shoji and the rules for chess mixed up and she focuses very hard on not messing up. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Truthfully, she has no real idea of what she’s doing, even with the explanation, and just moves tiles at random, constantly just reacting to every move he makes. Over and over, he annihilates her, but slowly, like everything else she’s ever done, she learns. As they play each game takes a little longer, and Shikamaru has to pause and plan a bit more for his moves. Katsumi knows she won’t win anytime soon, but it still feels good to force him to think a bit. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>At some point his father returns home and silently watches them play. His eyes are just as sharp as Shikamaru’s and Katsumi thinks Shikamaru may be a tiny carbon copy of his father, right down to the funny spiked ponytails they both sport. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>By the time they finish, it’s almost dark and Katsumi knows she needs to hurry home before her tou-san starts to worry. Besides, she’s dying to tell him about Shikamaru and his laziness and the shoji. She can’t wait to see his face when she tells him about her new friend. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>When she goes to leave, Shikaku-san stops what he’s doing and insists on walking her home.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She walks quietly at his side, he’s an even slower move than his son and she marvels at how he still manages to make it anywhere on time. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Ishihara, huh? I know your father, good Shinobi, gone on missions a lot though,” he speaks slowly too. She wonders if all Nara live at a snails pace, she can’t imagine it. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Tou-san is the best! And it’s fine when he’s gone, ‘cus then I just go stay with Genma-san or Anko-san or Gai-san or whoever else agrees to take me! And they all give me things to work on so I still get training!” Katsumi grins up at Shikaku-san, always happy to talk about her tou-san and her training. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“He’s going to start taking longer lasting missions,” Shikaku-san’s voice almost seems to carry a note of disapproval. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Well yeah, he specializes in infiltration missions, ‘specially long term ones! He had to stop when I was little, but now I’m in the academy so he’s able to do it again.”</p><p> </p><p>Katsumi narrows her eyes defensively at him. She doesn’t like the way it sounds like he isn’t happy with her tou-san. Tou-san does everything, he makes sure she’s taken care of and trains and he always does well on missions and she dislikes the way Shikaku-san sounds like he thinks tou-san is falling short. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Of course he does,” Shikaku-san shakes his head when he says that, like it’s unbelievable to him. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Katsumi doesn’t understand the problem, Tou-san always does his best in everything. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>When they arrive at her apartment complex, she can see Tou-san leaning on the railing of the walkway, speaking in low tones to a shinobi she doesn’t recognize. Not one of her people then. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She almost forgets herself and takes off running to her father, but pauses long enough to bow to Shikaku-san and thank him for walking her back. That done she darts up the stairs and throws herself against her tou-san’s legs. When he ruffles her hair absently, she promptly forgets all about the conversation with Shikaku-san. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Time passes quickly for Katsumi, now that her days are occupied by the academy and Shikamaru and the training Tou-san has her do. Shikamaru had paused his cloud watching long enough to introduce her to Akimichi Choji and Yamanaka Ino by the end of the first week of the academy. Katsumi has always loved food and Choji’s willingness to share his snacks had instantly earned him a spot in her good book. Ino was sweet, loud and bossy, but sweet. Katsumi doesn’t understand why she likes flowers so much but she decides its just an Ino thing and lays the matter to rest. <br/><br/></p><p>It fills Katsumi with indescribable joy whenever she thinks about how she has three whole friends. When she’d told Tou-san, he’d flashed her one of his toothy, mirthful grins and quite smugly said “I told you so.”</p><p> </p><p>The academy is both far more enjoyable than she anticipated and terribly boring. Learning the history of Konoha is dull and little more than rote memorization of facts she doesn’t care about. Math is terribly easy, she’d learned all that in her last life, and as a result has near a perfect score in that class. The time they practice Taijutsu however, is exciting. Learning the basic academy style Taijutsu is much easier and simpler than anything her tou-san and babysitters have ever had her do. For once, she doesn’t feel like she’s struggling, didn’t feel ridiculous and unbalanced. The sparing is her favorite. Whenever she faces one of her classmates in a spar, adrenaline pumps through her and she has the strangest urge to bare her teeth and snarl at them. She wonders if her Tou-san has ever had that urge. <br/><br/></p><p>The first time it happens, she’s sparing against one of the uchihas, she refuses to learn their names. That bad feeling still hasn’t faded and she doesn’t want to get attached. The spar is nothing impressive and truthfully is little more than dodging each other's blows, but the one time her opponent nearly lands a hit, Katsumi flashes her little, barely pointed teeth, and snarls, loud and deep and feral. It startles the Uchiha who jerks away from her like she’s something dangerous. Akihiro-Sensei just sighs and tells her not to snarl at her classmates.</p><p> </p><p>When Shikamaru asks later what that was about, Katsumi can only shrug helplessly, unable to articulate the strange instinct that drove her to bare her teeth. His response is a dismissive “troublesome” and the matter is forgotten.  <br/><br/></p><p>That day she runs home to ask her Tou-san about it, but when she gets home, the apartment is dark and there’s a little note on the table. The note is just orders to continue her kenjutsu practice and that her tou-san would be back in six months or so. <br/><br/></p><p>Katsumi is confused. Normally she’d have  been told beforehand so she’d know who to stay with. But then, her tou-san has never been gone longer than two months at a time. Maybe the rules are different with longer missions. Unsure of what to do, Katsumi doesn’t go to see which neighbor is watching her, instead she grabs her wakizashi from her room and marches out to the little spot on the edge of the forest she always practices at and begins her katas. Tou-san left orders after all. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next few months are spent in a surreal haze. Katsumi had never been left alone like this and it showed. The first time she runs out of groceries she stares into the empty fridge blankly. In her last life she’d grocery shopped by herself all the time, but she’s not a twenty-two year old anymore, doesn’t have a job, isn’t even sure what groceries she needs. She ends up hunting through Tou-san’s bedroom until she finds a stash of ryo tucked away amid spare kunai in the back of the closet. She ends up buying a lot of Milk, rice and eggs, confidant if nothing else she could live off fried rice and scrambled eggs for the foreseeable future. It probably won’t be the healthiest diet, but it’s better than nothing and she doesn’t want to try cooking anything else. Tou-san would be disappointed if she burnt the apartment down. <br/><br/></p>
<p>Training by herself, with no one to critique gets old quickly. She didn’t realize how much she relied on others correcting her until suddenly there’s no one to do it. She has no idea if she’s doing everything right, but she keeps going anyway, determined not to fall behind in her training just because Tou-san isn’t there to watch her progress. Doing Academy homework in an empty apartment is boring, and slowly she starts doing it at Ino’s or Shikamaru’s home, sometimes Choji’s when she wants to be fed until it hurts to move. <br/><br/></p>
<p>Whenever she heads home, the parents of her friends always look disapproving, but for the life of her she can’t comprehend why. She knows she can’t be the only child in Konoha who is left alone when their parents go on missions. So there’s no way that’s the reason. Maybe they would prefer she not come over as often, or want her to do her work at her own home. It’s hard to say, but the strange looks they give her whenever her empty apartment comes up makes her uneasy, and soon she stops mentioning it at all. <br/><br/></p>
<p>By the fifth month Katsumi has adjusted to living life without supervision. So when Shikaku-san offers to let her stay with his family until Tou-san comes home her first thought is <em>bit late isn’t it?</em></p>
<p>She’s sitting across the shoji board from Shikamaru while Ino braids flowers into her hair and Choji watches the game with rapt attention. Katsumi stares up at Shikaku-san for a long, silent moment, trying to pick apart the look on his face.<br/><br/>She’s not sure she likes the idea of imposing on the Nara family, isn’t sure if Shikaku-san is offering out of pity or if they actually want her to stay. It makes her head hurt trying to figure it out and she wishes he hadn’t asked at all. That way at least, she wouldn’t have to try to pick apart the reason why they’re offering to let her stay with them. <br/><br/></p>
<p>“What’s there to think about? You might as well, you’re here almost everyday anyway,” Shikamaru says, exasperation lacing his voice as he moves a tile on the board. <br/><br/></p>
<p>Katsumi doesn’t need more than a cursory glance at the shoji board to know she can’t win the game. From the way Shikamaru piped up, she’s not sure she can refuse the offer to stay either. So she nods hesitantly at Shikaku-san and thanks him quietly for welcoming her into his home. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Life with the Nara household is very different than anything Katsumi is used to. It’s strange for her, suddenly having two adults around instead of one or more recently none. It’s much to her dismay that she learns that living the Naras meant she was no longer exempt from the terror that was Yoshino-san angry. Yoshino hovers over both children when they do their homework now, lectures both of them when they get in trouble at the academy, and wakes both of them up rather forcefully every morning. It’s a shock for Katsumi, who’s used to being left mostly to her own devices, even when Tou-san is home. <br/><br/></p>
<p>Yoshino-san also insists that Katsumi slow down her training, insists she needs to rest, that it isn’t healthy for her to over work herself as much as she does. Yoshino-san goes as far as hiding her Wakizashi in an attempt to make her take one day off. For Katsumi it’s a horrifying experience. Since being gifted the wakizashi she’d never missed more than a day or two of training, it makes her fingers twitch and the feeling of not being productive makes her want to climb up the walls of the house. She involuntarily bares her teeth at Yoshino-san, who rewards her with a sound smack on her head with the wooden spoon she wields like a weapon of mass destruction. <br/><br/></p>
<p>Katsumi consoles herself by running through hand seals, determined to do something of value. If she is to survive being a shinobi she has to be the best, has to be able to do anything and everything that might ever be necessary. <br/><br/></p>
<p>Shikamaru watches her with a pained expression on his face, like he’s exhausted just watching her train. Shikaku-san seems torn between amusement and concern. It’s him who comes up with a solution for those days, giving her scenarios and pretend missions she has to create viable strategies for, reasoning she needs to be able to think just as much as anything else. Training for the mind he calls it. <br/><br/></p>
<p>In her last life, Katsumi was good at logic puzzles and games, enjoyed strategy games as a favorite pastime. She doesn’t view these as games in this life though, refuses to take them as anything less than entirely serious. She spends hours pouring over the scenarios he gives her, trying to figure out the best methods and strategies. Shikaku-san will lazily point out flaws in her plans whenever he ambles over to check her progress.</p>
<p>She’s not sure if she’ll ever come up with a plan he can’t find a problem with, but she finds it greatly improves her shoji playing. She still loses, but Shikamaru takes minutes now instead of seconds to decide his next moves. That, she thinks, must count for something.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The month passes, and Tou-san doesn’t come home. Then another passes, and another, and Katsumi can feel her unease growing. She knows it’s common for missions to take longer than expected, especially infiltration missions, but she is terrified that Tou-san is hurt or dead or captured or any other terrible thing her anxiety filled mind can conjure. She starts sleeping less and training more, sneaking out in the early hours of the morning before Yoshino-san is awake, to practice her katas until she feels better. She’s almost positive Shikaku-san knows she’s doing it but he only gives her a disapproving look over breakfast on those days. <br/><br/></p>
<p>The first year of academy ends before Tou-san returns. Katsumi is thrilled to see she’s near the top of her class, but that excitement is dampened by her Tou-san not being there to see it. Instead, it’s Yoshino-san who makes all of her favorite foods for doing so well, along with Shikamaru’s for just passing. Apparently, figuring out how to do the bare minimum to pass is a time honored tradition among the Nara clan. Shikaku smiles proudly at them both and tells them they did well. <br/><br/></p>
<p>It’s a week later that Tou-san returns. He looks exhausted, brown eyes weary and his long hair messy instead of sleek and smooth like it should be. He’s sporting bandages on one arm and smells like he needs a good bath, but Katsumi is ecstatic to have him back. Shikaku-san insists on talking to him privately before he takes Katsumi home. She can’t hear what they say in his office, but they’re there a long time and when they come out both look angry, but Tou-san just picks her up, grabs her bag and sword and walks out. Katsumi waves goodbye at the Nara family before resting her head on her tou-san’s shoulder, happy to have him home. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tou-san doesn’t explain why his mission took so long or why he looks like he’s seen better days, but Katsumi doesn’t mind, he never tells her about his missions. It would be strange if he started to now. The night they go home, Tou-san sits with her on the couch, holding her in an almost too tight grip for a long time. He’s quiet and his eyes are closed and if not for the occasional readjustments of his arms, she’d think he was asleep. She doesn’t mention the kunai placed carefully on the arm of the couch, well within grabbing distance or the way he twitches at the slightest sound outside their apartment. She falls asleep like that, with her father’s heart beating a steady rhythm in her ear. <br/><br/></p>
<p>The following days are spent telling him about everything that happened while he was away. He barks out a proud laugh when she tells him how she did in the academy, smiles and promises to buy her a shoji board for the apartment since she plays it so often now, watches her with sharp eyes when she demonstrates her katas, both the ones he taught her and the academy katas. When she tells him about the urge to bare her teeth and snarl whenever she’s surprised or angry or sparing, he flashes his own teeth at her and nods like he’s been expecting that to happen. <br/><br/><br/></p>
<p>“It’s an Ishihara thing, we aren’t a clan, but we have a few traits and techniques that if there were more of us would probably qualify us as one,” he explains it as if he’s discussing the weather, as if it’s no more interesting that what shoes she wore that day.</p>
<p><br/>Katsumi is taken by the thought of having family techniques, though. She demands to learn them, pleads and cajoles and even uses her puppy eyes, but Tou-san isn’t moved. She’s too young to learn them, needs to develop her chakra control more, needs to advance in her kenjutsu katas first, before he even begins to teach her the basics. He thinks if he teaches her them, she’ll rely too much on them in the future, become inflexible like so many of the clan children in her class will. Inflexibility in techniques, he argues, can get even a seasoned shinobi killed. <br/><br/></p>
<p>He explains that flashing her teeth like that is an instinctive threat display, that she’ll need to learn to curb that urge if she doesn’t want to be viewed as volatile  and aggressive by her comrades. Though, he says with a wink, it’s a good way to remind her comrades she’s not harmless on occasion, a good way to demand respect when respect is due.</p>
<p> <br/>Katsumi thinks about how the Uchiha had flinched so violently away from her when she had snarled at him, how their eyes had gone wide as saucers. She thinks about the satisfied feeling she got when they did that, like she’d won some kind of competition beyond just the simple spar. She thinks she understands now why her tou-san’s sharp, toothy smile make other wary. She thinks she understands why he doesn’t seem to mind it either. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s two weeks into the new school year that things suddenly change. It’s later in the evening and Katsumi is working on sticking a leaf to her forehead the way Akihiro-Sensei showed the class to do. Tou-san is sitting on the couch, sharping his favorite pair of swords, the katana and the wakizashi he took on all his missions. They’d spent the evening in companionable silence, both relaxed for once, as Tou-san doesn’t have another mission for at least another month, and Katsumi having for once no worries or anxieties over her performance in training or the academy. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi just barely gets the leaf to stick to her forehead when shrill, piercing alarms shatter the peace. Instantly, Tou-san is on his feet, swords in hand and teeth bared viciously. She can feel the killing intent pouring off him. For the first time, Katsumi looks at her father and sees someone truly dangerous. Sees someone capable of horrifying amounts of violence. The shock of the sirens blaring, sirens she’s been taught all her life mean there’s an immediate danger to the village combined with her Tou-san’s violent reaction freezes her in place and all she knows is fear. She wants to run, wants to hide but she’s frozen on the floor. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-san isn’t frozen though. He swings his head around to look down at her and snarls, quick and impatient, “Get up now, you know what those sirens mean! Get your sword and hide. Remember this sentence: The leaves hide the fire. Don’t come out for anyone who doesn’t know it. Assume anyone who doesn’t say it is an enemy and act accordingly! Do you understand?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi stares blankly up at her father. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi! We don’t have time for this, Do you understand?!”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She manages a shaky nod and stumbles to her feet, leaf forgotten and bolts to her room, fumbling in panic for a moment she manages to get both hands around the hilt of the wakizashi and yanks it from the sheath. Seeing no good place to hide in her room she darts as quickly and quietly as she can to Tou-san’s bedroom and crawls into the furthest corner of his closet behind boxes of what she’s fairly certain are her Kaa-san’s possessions and tries to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The sirens are still blaring and her tou-san has disappeared and it’s pitch black In the closet, especially with all the lights in the apartment shut off. It confuses her that suddenly they’re all off, she knows they were on only a moment ago, the lights are the least of her worries though. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For hours she sits in the dark, clutching her sword for dear life. The sirens are still screaming, loud and awful, but she can barely hear them over the rapid fire beating of her own heart. She tries to suppress her chakra the way all shinobi are taught to do, but she’s never tried it before, doesn’t know the technique and has barely gotten the hang of the stupid leaf to forehead thing. It makes Katsumi even more terrified, because what if she does it wrong and it makes her easier to find, draws the danger toward her instead of away?</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s in the earliest hours of the morning that the alarms finally stop, the ringing silence they leave behind is somehow more unnerving. She loses track of time now that the sirens are gone, having used the 5 second intervals between each new shriek of noise to keep a rough estimate of the time. Katsumi jerks back in alarm and pushes herself as far back into the corner as she can when she hears the door to the apartment open. She holds her breath, praying to any god she can think of, most of them from her past life, that whoever it is doesn’t find her. She keeps a white knuckled grip on her sword and stares unblinkingly at the sliding door of the closet, determined not to go quietly if they do. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can see light from the bedroom creep underneath the door and tenses even further, she can feel a snarl bubble up in her throat, fear and desperation fueling it. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can see someone’s shadow block the light as they come to a stop In front of the closet door. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi-chan, you can come out now,” it’s her tou-san’s voice, sounding emptier and more exhausted than she’d ever heard it before. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t respond, however. Tou-san told her not to come out unless she heard the code phrase. If this is an imposter, she can’t give herself away. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hears him sigh and mutter a swear word that would have gotten her hit with yoshino-san’s wooden spoon if she’d ever even thought it, before saying, “the leaves hide the fire. Will you come out now, little one?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As if all the energy has been sucked out of her, her grip on the sword goes slack and it falls to the ground with a thud. She moves slowly out of the corner and opens the closet with a shaking hand. She’s greeted by the sight of her tou-san wearing a uniform she’d never seen before, black cloth and gray armor and if she had energy left to spare to thinking she would have questioned it more. As it is she just raises her arms to be lifted up, not caring a bit that she’s seven now and is supposed to be a big girl who doesn’t need to be coddled. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He doesn’t hesitate to lift her up, holding her tight to his chest, like he’s worried she’ll disappear if he lets her go. Whatever happened has clearly had a terrible impact on him, because she can feel the faintest tremors in his arms as he presses his face into her hair. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can hear him whispering into her hair that everything is alright, that she’s safe, and that nothing will hurt her, as he walks her out of his room. She can just peak over his shoulder, trying to spot where she dropped her sword half heartedly, too overwhelmed and exhausted to really care. She doesn’t see her sword, laying in the shadows of the closet, but she does see a painted mask thrown haphazardly down beside the bed. Distantly, she knows she knows what that means, she learned it before she was Katsumi, but she can’t place it anymore. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next morning, Tou-san sits down across from her at the table and stares at her for a long time. His lips are twisted in a small frown and his eyebrows are pulled together, making the scar on his face stand out more than usual. Twice he opens his mouth to speak and twice he closes it. Katsumi’s never seen her father at a loss for words before, never seen him visibly struggle over something before. It leaves a terrible, sick feeling of dread. She just knows that whatever happened the night before was awful, knows something has fundamentally changed and she wishes he would find the words already, but she also doesn’t want to hear them. She wants to block out whatever he’s going to say so she can pretend everything is okay. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally, he seems to brace himself and manages to speak, “when you go to the academy today, things will be a bit different.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He pauses again, working his jaw like he’s turning over the next words in his mouth, like he’s tasting them, “last night... there was an incident. The Uchiha clan was... it was wiped out last night. I can’t tell you much more than that, but I need you to be prepared, you’re going to be missing a few classmates and I don’t want you to find out through gossip.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi stares fixedly at her father, blood roaring in her ears. She knew. She knew something bad was going to happen to them and she didn’t say anything and now they’re dead. They’re dead and she just let it happen. Didn’t even try to warn anyone. Katsumi wants to scream, wants to curl up under her bed sheets and hide from her shame. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t realize she’s shaking until her tou-san reaches out and grabs her hands in a firm grip.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I know it’s scary for you, but it’s okay, no one else is in danger, you are safe, your friends are safe, in time last night will be like a bad dream.” Tou-san speaks like he’s praying to Kami that he’s telling the truth, like if he says it with enough confidence he’ll be proven right, like he’s demanding the universe make it so. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t want to go to the academy today, doesn’t want to see empty seats where her classmates should be, wants to beg her father to let her stay home. She doesn’t though, she doesn’t deserve to hide from the truth, doesn’t deserve to pretend everything is okay when she didn’t try to stop this from happening. Didn’t even consider trying. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-san walks her to the academy for the first time in months, holding her hand tightly in his, flashing pointed teeth at anyone who gets too close to her as they walk, like he can keep the whole world at bay just by being there. When they arrive he kneels down to her level, a mocking parody of her very first day at the academy. It seems so long ago now. He smooths her hair down, she’d been too distracted to bother brushing it, much less pulling it up, this morning, and sighs. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s going to be hard, little one, but remember, you’re training to be a shinobi, and what is it shinobi do?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She stares unblinkingly back at him and bites her lip, “they endure.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Exactly, Katsumi-Chan, and that’s what I need you to do today, understand?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She nods and draws herself up to her full height, insignificant as it is. If she stops moving, she knows she’ll break, knows she won’t be able to hold it together. She has to keep moving forward, can’t afford anything less. Not if she wants to prevent anything else terrible from ever happening again.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi finds out the full extent of the damage at the academy, and it’s so much worse than she thought. There were over three hundred Uchiha in the village, and in her class alone there were five children who were dead. It wasn’t only Uchiha who were dead either, children and adults who had the misfortune of visiting the Uchiha compound when the massacre happened were dead too, as far as she knew no one had been spared. Akihiro-Sensei is somber and empty eyed as he looks out at the class, his eyes lingering on each empty seat for long, painful seconds. It’s like all the life has been sucked out of the classroom, no one is speaking, and hardly anyone seems to pay attention to the lessons. Children who were friends with the Uchihas are crying silently in their seats, until Akihiro-Sensei quietly tells them they can step out if they need to. Katsumi is mostly numb, the day passes in a blur of sorrow and shock and it’s only her will power that keeps her from joining the crying children in the hallway. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next day is worse, In response to the massacre, many civilian parents pull their children from the academy, fearing something similar could happen to them and their families if their child becomes a shinobi. It’s a knee jerk reaction, illogical and unlikely to do anything, but the damage is done. The result is there are few enough civilian children that they can combine them with the clanborn class rooms that suddenly have empty spaces. It results in no small amount of tension, with more than a few clan children resenting the civilian children and orphans for taking the places of their dead friends. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her class ends up with only four new faces, instead of the five it can fit and Katsumi doesn’t understand. She can’t see the reason for leaving open an empty seat when other classes end up with more children than they can fit. The new children don’t seem to understand why the class is subdued, why the clan children stick to each other like glue, don’t seem to share the same misery and grief of the children who played with and studied with and grew with the Uchiha children. It makes them stick out even more than their civilian mannerisms and views do. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ino is the one who breaks the unspoken boundary between the two groups, insisting that the little pink haired girl sits beside her and declares her her new friend. Shikamaru and Choji don’t seem the least bit surprised by this, but Katsumi is quietly jealous, Ino is the only girl friend she has, and the massacre has made Katsumi cling all the harder to her friends. She doesn’t want to share them, but it’s Ino and Ino has always been the most outgoing of them, hardly spends more than a second thinking about it before adding little Haruno Sakura to their group, though she stays more Ino’s friend than anything else. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then there’s the little blonde orphan. All wide blue eyes and a loud voice. Katsumi is overwhelmed by the sheer energy of the boy and she knows from the story from her past life that he’s important. The problem is she can’t imagine how this loud mouthed boy with more bark than bite could actually end up important. He disrupts nearly every class and misses the rest. It drives Katsumi up the wall and all she wants is the peaceful calm class of before. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then Uchiha Sasuke walks back into the room a week later and it’s like the entire room freezes. Katsumi could hear a pin drop, as the entire class turns to stare at him, not a soul looking away. It’s like the entire class is seeing a ghost and for one hysteria filled moment, Katsumi thinks that maybe they are. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The spell is broken when he sits down, not looking at or speaking to anyone. Katsumi can hear the whispering, and knows Sasuke’s miraculous apparent resurrection will be the topic of the week for a long, long time. Katsumi stares silently at the back of his head, wondering if he would blame her if he knew she’d known something was going to happen to his clan. She resolves to never bring it up to him, figuring he’d prefer to put the massacre out of his mind as quickly as possible, she thinks it’s probably what she would want, if she’d been old enough to remember her Kaa-san’s death.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Things change even further when Akihiro-Sensei leaves shortly after the new additions to the class and is replaced by a brown haired, brown eyed man with a scar across his nose. Iruka-Sensei is what he introduces himself as and he’s much louder than Akihiro-Sensei was. He’s constantly yelling at the blonde boy and it makes Katsumi want to cover her ears and duck under the desk. A carry over from her last life that was only made worse by how little the people around her raised their voices. Now she feels constantly on the edge of crying whenever she sees Iruka-Sensei start to get annoyed, even though it’s not at her. He’s a good Sensei, but she wants Akihiro-Sensei back. She’s tired of the changes, tired of new people and new routines and new everything. Katsumi has never felt so tired before and she has no idea how to fix it. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Life falls into a strange rhythm. Tou-san is gone more often but the missions are shorter and he comes back with new injuries more often than not. The loss of the Uchiha clan left a black hole of missions that needs to be done and, according to Tou-san, it’s all hands on deck to deal with it. Suddenly Uchiha Sasuke is deemed a prodigy and practically worshipped amongst the girls at the academy and everyday is a new yelling match between Iruka-Sensei and Uzumaki Or Uzumaki versus anyone else who gets tired of his antics. Katsumi feels like she’s living in a fever dream and the day Ino declares that Sasuke will be her future husband and that Haruno is her ‘rival in love’ only confirms the theory. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t understand what her friend sees in the sullen boy who wears his tragedy like a favorite coat. He doesn’t speak to anyone unless he’s insulting them and looks like he’d rather be anywhere else but where he is. She wants to feel bad for him, does feel bad for him, but she doesn’t like him anymore than she likes Iruka-Sensei’s yelling or Uzumaki’s pranks. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s strange, watching her sweet friend turn into a shrieking, fawning stranger in the time it takes for Katsumi to blink. Suddenly all Ino can talk about is the Uchiha and dieting and looking pretty and love and Katsumi just wants her friend who liked to make flower crowns back. Shikamaru and Choji don’t understand the sudden change either, but seem to accept rather quickly that whatever’s up with Ino is the new normal. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">To deal with the change, Katsumi throws herself into training even more. Spending hours on different chakra control techniques, hunts down Genma-san after the academy one day to beg him to teach her to suppress her chakra. She never wants to feel like she’s a clear target again. His senbon clicks rapidly between his teeth as he considers her. He makes her demonstrate a few of the chakra control techniques she’s mastered before he agrees on the condition she doesn’t do it constantly, saying it’s not good for developing chakra coils to suppress it too often or too long. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Suppressing her chakra signature enough that Genma-San can’t sense her takes longer than she expected. It’s more exhausting than she thought it would be, too. It feels like she’s tensing her core muscles, almost, even though not a single muscle in her body is moving. It’s almost impossible for her to maintain enough concentration for it while doing anything else and she can only do it for a few minutes at a time, but it makes her feel better. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Genma-San doesn’t let her stop there, though. Tells her all the chakra suppression in the world is useless if she doesn’t know how to move without making a noise or move in a way that doesn’t draw the eye to the motion. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s nearing the end of her second year at the academy, when she’s finally able to maintain the suppression while moving. That’s when Genma-san drags her out to one of the training grounds and gives her a simple task: hide. Every time she makes a noise, every time her grip on her chakra is lost, every time she moves suddenly enough to draw the eye, she gets hit with a senbon; she wins if she successfully hides for five minutes. She gets hit with so many senbon she thinks she must look likea pin cushion. She learns to move slowly and smoothly before anything else. It takes days but eventually she keeps quiet enough as well, even managing to silence the sound of her breathing enough that it isn’t heard. It’s her chakra suppression that’s the problem. She’s only able to hold it a minute or two when she’s in motion and Genma-san never lets it slide each time she lets her hold on it go. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Each time she comes home with new pinpricks in her arms or legs and leaves in her hair, her tou-san just shakes his head at her and mutters under his breath about stubborn brats. He doesn’t let her new found obsession with being Genma-san’s favorite target get in the way of her kenjutsu. Tou-san insists she spends at least an hour a day working with her wakizashi, driving her harder than ever to master harder and harder Kata forms until she’s dreaming of training. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shoji with Shikamaru is reduced to once a week so she can keep training. Yoshino-san worries over her everytime she visits, convinced she’s hurting herself training so hard. Shikaku-san still gives her scenarios to think through but less than he did when she stayed with them, giving her one only every other week instead of every time he sees her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi isn’t sure if this new normal is good, but it’s something. It keeps her from feeling like she’s drowning in things out of her control and keeps her from wallowing in the guilt of not trying to warn the Uchiha clan about the danger when she had the chance. Katsumi just has to keep moving, then she’ll be okay. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is ten when Mizuki-Sensei enters the picture. Suddenly the class is permitted to try to pass the graduation exam once a year if they think they’re ready, but only Uzumaki tries to graduate early. And he fails. Katsumi isn’t surprised at all, she doesn’t understand why he expects to graduate early when he’s lucky he hasn’t been kicked out of the academy considering how bad his grades are and how little he seems to care about doing well. It’s not like they’ve actually been taught the three basic academy Jutsu in depth yet, either. They’ve just started working on a basic henge. No one is expected to pass it now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mizuki-Sensei is nice to everyone and he doesn’t yell like Iruka-Sensei and Katsumi takes an instant liking to the white haired chuunin. He works with them on Taijutsu while Iruka-Sensei grades papers, she’s not really sure how that works, because she’s sure he must have his own class, but Katsumi likes Mizuki-Sensei and doesn’t question it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Since failing to pass the graduation exam, even though it was optional this time and everyone knew he would fail, Uzumaki’s pranking increases tenfold, like he’s punishing the world for his failure. Katsumi becomes more than a little adept at dodging buckets of paint and balloons filled with mud or glitter and anything else he comes up with. Idly, she thinks he would be good at traps or sabotage if he doesn’t flunk out. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">At first, she thinks he’s the typical academy failure, no real skill in anything or desire to improve himself. It’s during Mizuki-sensei’s Taijutsu lessons that she starts to wonder if that’s not quite the case. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They’re working on moves designed to block hits the day she takes notice. Mizuki-Sensei is watching them all with a benign, friendly expression, correcting them patiently where it’s needed and praising them where it’s not. Until he gets to the blonde prankster. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is only half paying attention, and only because the boy is standing to her immediate right, but it’s still jarring enough to give her pause. Uzumaki’s stance is all wrong, and his elbows are too far out and she can spot so many openings in his guard it’s like he’s asking to be hit. When Mizuki-Sensei gets to him, she fully expects him to correct the boy the way he does everyone else. Instead, his smile fades and he looks almost hateful when he looks at the boy. She watches out of the corner of her eye and listens in confusion as he tells Uzumaki to widen his stance far too much and move his arms at the wrong angle and really do just about everything wrong. And the boy doesn’t even question it, doesn’t seem to notice how wrong the awful looking stance must feel, just thanks Mizuki-Sensei brightly for the help. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches as Mizuki-Sensei moves on, then turns to watch Uzumaki’s abysmal blocks, trying to wrap her head around what she just witnessed. No one else seems to have noticed, though. Ino is bickering with Haruno over Uchiha, who is resolutely ignoring them both. Shikamaru is by Choji, doing the bare minimum as usual while staring up at the clouds in a rather strange display of multitasking, she wishes he’d seen what just happened, surely he would have been able to make sense out of it. Shikamaru seems to understand everything, Katsumi is certain he would have known why Mizuki-Sensei had just lied to the boy. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t like what she saw, Uzumaki may be bottom of the class, may never rise above genin corps at best, but he’s going to be her comrade one day, and a poorly trained comrade is a liability that can get whole teams killed. So as soon as Mizuki-Sensei is far enough away Katsumi reaches over and gives the boy a light push, just hard enough to demonstrate to him that his balance is bad. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He doesn’t react well, flailing and yelling like he’s been stabbed with a kunai and all Katsumi can think is that Genma-San would be appalled if he saw the display. <em>She’s</em> appalled at the display, can’t believe this boy wants to be a ninja. She’s unable to picture him ever moving in the calm, self assured, smooth movements all shinobi are taught to move in. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He scowls up from the ground at her, looks a bit like he wants to growl at her and she has to resist the urge to bare her teeth back at him. Teeth that aren’t small and pathetic and barely pointed anymore, teeth like her Tou-san’s that don’t quite fit in her mouth right, won’t fit right for a few more years yet. She doesn’t think the boy would react well if she did and she’s trying to help him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What was that for?!” Uzumaki is louder when he’s yelling directly at her, and Katsumi wants to tape his mouth shut. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Your balance sucks,” She says it flatly, bluntly, doesn’t see a point in being nice about it. She figures he wouldn’t understand a more detailed explanation anyway. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He scowls up at her harder, clearly not understanding that she’s trying to help. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah? How would you know? Mizuki-Sensei told me to do it like this, dattebayo!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi isn’t moved, “yes, he did. Too bad he taught you wrong.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">If anything, Uzumaki gets angrier. The boy scrambles to his feet and crosses his arms, looking furious, like she’s the reason he’s terrible at everything he does. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re lying! Mizuki-sensei wouldn’t do that! You’re just jealous I’m better than you!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has never been so unimpressed in this life, never felt less of a need to defend herself against such empty accusations. Instead of trying to help him further, she shrugs and returns to practicing the blocking. She figures if he doesn’t want to listen to her, there’s nothing she can do. Trying further is just wasting air and energy that she can put to better use in other things. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">By the end of the class, everyone except Uzumaki has made noticeable progress. Katsumi isn’t surprised. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s not surprised when she becomes the focus of the blonde orphan’s pranks for the next month either. Annoyed and frustrated, but not surprised. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Despite Uzumaki’s month long warfare against her, Katsumi is still determined to fix his incompetence. She took a detention once to get Shikamaru awake and paying attention, she’s willing to tolerate pranks if it means Uzumaki isn’t an embarrassment to Konoha. Every chance she gets she corrects his mistakes, tells him as straightforward as possible what he’s doing wrong. Each time it results in him getting angry and her wanting to bang her head against the desk. She doesn’t understand why he’s unable to realize she’s helping him. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Frustrated, because she’s trying to fix him while maintaining her own grades and training, she turns to her tou-san, sure he’ll have a solution. Tou-San just laughs at her plight and tells her a softer approach may be necessary. When she mentions the Mizuki-Sensei incident his eyes go cold and he tells her he’ll look into it. That settled, Katsumi sets about trying to figure out what exactly a “soft approach is”. Genma-San likes to use her as a pincushion when she messes up the stealth training he gives her, Anko-san is loud and direct and gets angry after too many mistakes. Gai-san thinks crying and doing more training is the answer to failure, and her Tou-San is only marginally less blunt than her when he oversees her training. Shikaku-san isn’t a much better example, his method of pointing out flaws is closer to asking her what she’s going to do when this or that goes wrong with her strategies. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is at a loss. She has no idea what it takes to get it through to the boy that she’s trying to help him. That she’s not insulting him when she points out his mistakes. She doesn’t understand why he gets so angry when it’s all true and if he’d just fix it she’d stop. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he misses the target one too many times in throwing class, Katsumi breaks, with a frustrated huff she grabs his hand and forcibly corrects his hold on the kunai, ignoring his protests as she moves his fingers into the correct position. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“There. Throw it like that.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He glares at her, suspicion and resentment clear across his face. He wears his heart on his sleeve, another thing to fix before he becomes a genin. After a brief staring contest, he throws it. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It doesn’t hit the center of the target, he’ll need more practice doing it correctly for that, but it hits comfortably inside the target. Satisfied, Katsumi nods once, “that’s how you throw a kunai properly.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Uzumaki stares at her, confusion and no small amount of distrust in his eyes. She doesn’t get it, doesn’t understand why help is so surprising to him, he readily accepts the bad advice from Mizuki-Sensei, she doesn’t understand why he treats her good advice like it’s poison. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">At least he doesn’t yell at her this time. Surely, that means she’s making progress. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The pranks on her stop slowly, and when she corrects him again, he listens cautiously, like he’s constantly bracing for a hit that never comes. She finds he doesn’t understand most of her corrections immediately, needs a more thorough explanation of what he’s doing wrong, but she can’t make it too technical or she loses him. It’s harder for her, to articulate some of it, she’s been taught mostly by older shinobi telling her what she does wrong and then using trial and error to correct it, maybe demonstrating the concept to her once or twice, with the exceptions of kata forms and poisons. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Discovering Uzumaki just needs more in depth, clearer help feels like a light bulb turning on in her head. She doubts she’ll be able to fix him entirely, it’s not her responsibility even if she could, but she can see he’s salvageable. It makes that knot of anxiety that sits in her chest relax now that she can see he might not end up an incompetent idiot on the field. He just needs work, and far more patience than she has, but there’s potential. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That’s going to have to be enough. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto, because she’s stopped thinking of the loudmouthed boy as Uzumaki, tries a second time to graduate early. He fails again. This time his pranking escalates to be village wide, and it is constant. It seems everyone in the village is cursing the blonde’s name. She’s never paid much attention to the civilians in Konoha, they live in a different world than she does despite residing in the same village, but she notices when they call him a “demon brat” or “that damn Uzumaki”. She knows he’s annoying and his pranks aren’t fun to be on the receiving end of but she doesn’t think that’s reason enough to talk so badly about one random orphan. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s strange and it seems familiar, like she learned why they do this a long time ago. She wonders if she knew it before she was Katsumi, when she was older and a civilian and shinobi didn’t exist. She struggles to remember now though, as time passes her memories of her past life seem to fade away, in bits and pieces, like water eroding a rock and she wonders if one day she’ll forget it entirely. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Over dinner one day she asks about it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tou-San, you know the Uzumaki kid in my class? Naruto? Why do the villagers call him a “demon brat”? I don’t understand how pranking is that bad. Yeah, it’s annoying, but it can’t be that terrible.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her father takes his time responding, setting his chopsticks down carefully and leaning back in his chair. He looks like he’s considering her, passing judgement on her, like he isn’t sure she can handle the answer. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Uzumaki is... a special case. The villagers like to blame him for all their problems. Like a scapegoat, I suppose. It doesn’t matter that he’s not at fault, he’s an easy target and that’s enough for some people.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s not fair though! He’s just a stupid kid, he didn’t do anything,” says Katsumi, indignant at the thought someone would just blame a random orphan for their own woes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’ll find, little one, the world rarely cares about what is fair or what is right. If it bothers you, if you don’t want to contribute to the unfairness, you should show him a little kindness. He doesn’t have to be your friend like Shikamaru or Ino, but you should still be nice to him. Being the world’s scapegoat is a heavy burden for a child to carry.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-san’s voice is solemn and his eyes are serious. Katsumi knows he means what he says,knows he’s telling her something important. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Like all things he tells her, she takes it to heart. The next day at the academy she insists he sits beside her, instead of in the back like he normally does. Shikamaru raises one eyebrow at the unusual display of friendliness but doesn’t comment. Naruto is clearly on edge, clearly thinks she’s playing a cruel joke. Katsumi doesn’t care though. She’s going to be nice to him, her tou-san said she should after all. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Each time he starts to get frustrated in class she taps his hand before he can start yelling and whispers to him an explanation he can understand. When she sees his bad handwriting, full of mistakes and misspellings she quietly pulls a pieces of paper out and corrects his spelling on it, carefully mimicking his handwriting beside the correction so she doesn’t have to correct him out loud. She’s not sure if she wants to be his friend, but he’s a future comrade, a good working relationship is needed. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Time passes and Naruto seems to warm up to her. Giving her bright, beaming smiles when she continues to help him. He starts sitting with Katsumi and her people, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino when she’s not arguing with Sakura. They accept his appearance with much the same grace they did when Sakura had joined them for the short span of time before the Uchiha crush happened. Soon enough he’s showing improvement in class, and it fills her with a small amount of pride to know it’s partly due to her help. He’s still loud, still a prankster, still gets into yelling matches with Iruka-Sensei, but now he’s her loudmouthed prankster and Katsumi holds onto her people with all the fierce possessiveness of a guard dog. She’s willing to bare her teeth at anyone one who looks at him wrong, anyone whom she thinks means him ill will, and every time she does it, he looks at her like she hung the moon, it’s baffling, really. He’s one of hers though, so it’s fine, she can live with it. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The day the class takes the graduation exam for real, Naruto’s third time taking it and everyone else’s first time, starts out normal enough. Tou-san smiles at her over breakfast and tells her he’s confident she’ll do well, that he’s proud of all the progress she’s made. When she arrives at the academy, Iruka-Sensei greets them all with an encouraging nod. For all his yelling, he taught them well, showed them kindness and treated them all fairly, even Naruto, who so many of the instructors disregarded. For that, Katsumi can forgive the yelling a thousand times over. She won’t miss him though, she’s ready to be done with the academy, wants a genin team and missions and even the hitai-ate that once filled her with so much dread. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She takes her usual seat, with Shikamaru on her left, dozing away the time, and Naruto on her right, a ball of energy, loudly proclaiming he’s going to pass this time, he knows he is. She thinks of his dream to be hokage, thinks of the passion and determination behind each declaration he makes that one day he will be, and hopes he passes this time. He’s done better since she inadvertently adopted him into her friend group, but she’s worried. His bushin isn’t very good, he never seems to be able to manage one that isn’t useless, no matter how much she helps him. She just prays it won’t be part of the exam. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The written portion of the exam is first, and Katsumi takes one look at it and knows she will do well, knows Naruto has learned enough to pass it as well. He may take longer than the others to finish it, but she knows this part won’t be what trips him up. He’s actually quite smart when someone bothers to teach him in a way he understands. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That fear assuaged, she starts answering questions that ask her to preform basic math, questions that give her scenarios to work through, though they aren’t near as difficult as Shikaku-san’s, questions that ask her to describe what chakra is, to draw out hand seals and explain why they’re important, there’s even history questions on the test. She doesn’t care much about history but she knows it and knows she can answer them. It’s the longest test she’s ever taken at the academy, and even though she’s confident in her answers it takes her the better part of two hours to finish. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she turns it in, Iruka-Sensei has her go sit in the hallway with everyone who finished before her, Haruno and Uchiha have finished well before anyone else, both looking extremely confident in themselves.Everyone else looks resigned or worried, like they think they failed for sure or aren’t sure how it went. Iruka-Sensei and the other instructors involved in the test have to grade all of the written portion before they can move on to testing them in Taijutsu and the basic three justsu. Shikamaru and Naruto are some of the last out, Katsumi is almost certain Naruto had to wake Shikamaru up to turn in their tests. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the grading is finished, Iruka-Sensei calls out the names of the children who get to continue on to the Taijutsu portion of the test. Katsumi is pleased to hear Naruto’s name is among the ones who passed the written portion. He looks significantly more excited about the Taijutsu portion. She thinks thats fair, it’s his best area when the instructors aren’t intentionally teaching him wrong. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Taijutsu portion involves a lot of running, testing both speed and stamina. Each student has to demonstrate the basic academy katas and any others they know. Katsumi ends up demonstrating both the kenjutsu her tou-San taught her and the Taijutsu Gai-san beat into her head. She swears she can hear him screaming about youth somewhere and prays she’s just hallucinating. They Throw kunai and shuriken at multiple targets and distances. Katsumi is pleased to note Naruto is much, much better at it than he used to be. He doesn’t hit the center every time, but enough to show he knows what he’s doing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sparing is last, Katsumi ends up standing across from Hyuuga Hinata, and she doesn’t like the idea of sparing her. It feels too much like kicking an already beaten puppy. Hinata is hesitant and shy and stutters out a greeting that Katsumi gives a slight nod in return. Katsumi resolves not to be too hard on her, won’t go easy on her by any means, but won’t use an ounce more force than necessary to win. It’s a harder match than Katsumi expects. For all her hesitance and meek behavior, Hinata does try, and the one hit she lands on Katsumi makes her entire right arm go numb and it nearly causes Katsumi to panic. She’s never felt anything like it before and it’s possibly the worst feeling she’s ever experienced. She wins but barely, and is terrified she won’t be able to complete the rest of the exam with only one arm. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Iruka-Sensei sees her panic and shakes his head in amusement before asking Hinata to reopen her tenketsu point. Katsumi freezes when she hears that. Hinata closed the tenketsu point? She can do that? Katsumi files that away with the other potentially useful information she knows. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She stares wide eyed at the nervous girl as she fixes what she did. The return of sensation in her arm makes it feel like she slept on it wrong, leaves a strange buzzing feeling behind as the numbness recedes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto ends up sparing with Inuzuka Kiba. It’s closer to brawling than anything else, but it’s vicious and unrelenting, ending in a draw when their time is up. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru barely tries when he faces off with a civilian born she can’t remember the name of. Dodging hits with a put upon air, dragging it out so the time runs out. Katsumi is almost certain he did it because he didn’t want to put the effort in to win. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Again, Iruka-Sensei calls out the names of those who get to move on to the Jutsu portion. She’s pleased to hear she, Naruto, and Shikamaru all made it. She’s surprised to hear Hyuuga’s name since she lost, but she supposes she did do well, and sparring was only part of the Taijutsu portion. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He lines them up outside the testing room in alphabetical order. It leaves Choji first In line, Katsumi between Inuzuka and Shikamaru, with Naruto the second to last to go, Ino being the last. One by one they’re called in, no one comes back out so she assumes they have a second door that exits into a different hallway. It’d be awful if they had to preform the Jutsu with the kids that already took it watching them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When it’s her turn, she’s greeted with the sight of Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-Sensei, and... Akihiro-Sensei. She’s taken aback by the sight of her old instructor. She hasn’t seen him since he left their class years ago, but a burst of warmth floods her chest at the sight of him. He was her favorite Sensei, the one she measures all others against. Katsumi is thrilled to show him her progress and she beams a rare, bright smile that could rival Naruto’s when they make eye contact. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All of them smile indulgently back at her. Iruka-Sensei clears his throat and tells her, “you need to henge into one of us, kawarimi with something in the room, and make two fully functional bushin.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi bounces up and down once on her heels in anticipation, a habit she’d never quite managed to break, and forms the hand seal for a basic henge. Her chakra rests over her skin light as silk, and she focuses on looking like Mizuki-sensei, who laughs in amusement at her when she copies the face he makes when he’s focused. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Very good, Katsumi-Chan, you can drop the henge now. Next is the kawarimi, if you would,” Akihiro-Sensei smiles at her, and she thinks he looks proud. Like he did whenever the class exceeded his expectations on a particularly hard quiz. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She has to suppress a mischievous grin and uses her chakra to switch places with Iruka-sensei’s pen. She ends up crouched on the table like a cat while he jerks back in surprise, clearly not prepared for her to do something so unexpected and clearly meant to startle him. Things like this is Naruto’s area of expertise normally, not hers.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She kawarimis a second time with the pen, figures it’s a more efficient way of returning Iruka-sensei’s pen than walking back and forth. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mizuki-Sensei really seems amused with her then. Shooting Iruka-Sensei a quick, gleeful smirk before turning his attention back to her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Very good, we just need to see two bushin and then you’re done.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi focuses, forming the hand seal carefully, and feels a bit of her chakra split from the rest. The result is mirror images of her on either side of her, both looking extremely pleased. She knows they’re just illusions, not worth much beyond a minor distraction, but she’s proud of them nonetheless. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Excellent, Katsumi-chan! I think it’s safe to say you passed!” Iruka-Sensei beams proudly at her, but looks over to the other Senseis for confirmation. She needs a unanimous vote to officially graduate after all. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mizuki-Sensei smiles at her, “I have to say I agree, she did well.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Akihiro-Sensei picks up one of the hitai-ates and looks down at it for a moment, before offering it to her, a pleased smile on his face, “welcome to the Shinobi corps, Ishihara Katsumi, May the will of fire burn brightly in you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi snatches it uncharacteristically excited out of his hand and resists the urge to squeal in joy. Instead she bows to each of them, thanking them for their time and all they taught her, before darting through the door opposite of the one she entered the room through. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t stop to wait for her friends to finish the test, waving excitedly at Choji and his parents as she practically skips by looking for her Tou-San. She spies him leaning against the wall of the academy, speaking to Ino’s dad, an easy smile on his face. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She breaks into a run when she spots him, flinging herself against his stomach and wrapping her arms around his middle. He grunts and looks down at her, amusement dancing in brown eyes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ahh, I see my daughter is a shinobi now, are you sure they meant to give that to you? Maybe you need another year.” He teases her as he hugs her back, taking her hitai-ate from her when he lets her go to examine it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course they meant to pass me! I did awesome! I’m a kunoichi now, tou-San! I have my own hitai-ate! Just like you said I would!” Katsumi is practically vibrating with joy. Seeing her father’s pride in her is even better than passing the graduation exam. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He laughs loudly at her, teeth flashing in the sunlight. “How do you want to wear this, little one? I’m sure you already have an idea.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi hesitates for a moment, not sure how her choice will be received. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I... I think I want to wear it like Kaa-san did. If that’s okay.” She says it all in one breath, terrified she’ll lose her nerve if she doesn’t. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He freezes for just a moment before a soft, sad smile appears on his face, he kneels down and carefully ties it around her neck, making sure it’s the exact same looseness around her neck as it is in the picture they have of Kaa-San. He ties it like he’s done it a thousand times before, and she wonders how often he did it for her mother. He pulls her ponytail out from under the cloth and looks at her for a long moment. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Your mother would be so proud if she could see you now. She wanted so badly to watch you become a shinobi.” His voice is softer than she’s ever heard it, sadness and pride and bittersweet joy all warring in his voice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He stands up and pulls her against his side. Katsumi buries one hand into the fabric of his flak jacket and settles in to wait for her friends to come out. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru drags his feet on his way out of the building but the hitai-ate dangling from his hand gleams proudly in the light. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto comes out a little while later, he runs by her without stopping, tears in his eyes. No hitai-ate in sight. Katsumi’s joy suddenly feels hollow. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That night is full of celebration, her father went out and bought her her favorite mochi for dessert and gifts her with a katana, promising to begin to teach her how to wield it alongside her wakizashi the way he does. Katsumi is thrilled, has been eagerly waiting to learn dual wielding for years now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As happy as she is, she’s still disappointed Naruto didn’t pass. She’d tried to find him after he disappeared that afternoon but he’s impossible find if he doesn’t want to be, it’s impressive really, considering the vivid orange jump suit he insists on wearing. Eventually she had to give up, figuring when he was ready to talk he’d come out of hiding. She resolves to help him master the bushin as soon as she can. Refuses to see her friend fail again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With that decided, she allows herself to enjoy her own success. By the time the exhilaration of becoming a shinobi has subsided, all the mochi is gone and she’s curled up on the couch beside her father, who’s sprawled out, head tilted back towards the ceiling. Both of them are half asleep, content to doze the evening away now that her days are soon to be filled with missions and training with a genin team of her own. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s just begun to sink into true sleep when the alarms sound for the second time in her life, ruining the pleasant atmosphere. This time she’s on her feet a half second slower than her father, and she looks to him for direction. He looks as menacing as he did before and he glances at her quickly, assessing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Same rules as last time, Katsumi-chan, that forehead protector doesn’t mean you’re ready for anything yet.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then he’s gone, leaving her alone in the darkened apartment. She ruthlessly suppresses her chakra, picks up her wakizashi, pushes the katana under the couch, she would rather use the sword she knows, and backs up into the shadows in the corner of the living room. Her heart is pounding in her ears just as loud as last time, but she’s not blinded by fear anymore. She’s not that little kid who needed to hide in a closet anymore. Knows if someone is actually going to attack her, it’s better for her if she has room to move. The closet may feel safer, but it’s little more than a large casket if she gets found there. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She allows her lips to peel back over her teeth but forces the growl down. Genma-san taught her silence. Taught her how to hide, how to be still enough to be missed even when someone is looking straight at her. She forces herself to breathe the way she does during her meditation. Panic is death. Katsumi refuses to panic. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her eyes track from the door to the window over and over. Refusing to be caught off guard if anyone tries to get in. Plans of action run through her head rapid fire, Shikaku’s strategy games paying off. She’s not arrogant enough to think she could win a fight, knows she doesn’t have the skill or experience to win against anyone in a serious fight, but she’s knows she can make it difficult. She’s reasonably confident she can do a little damage before being cut down if the worst happens. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The sirens stop far, far sooner than last time. She doesn’t relax though, won’t relax until Tou-san walks through the door. She shifts her weight, slow and smooth, from one foot to the other. Waiting for Tou-San to come back is all that’s left for her to do. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he comes back, he’s not in the grey and black uniform he was in the last time. He looks more annoyed than exhausted too. Like what ever the supposed threat was was a complete waste of time. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The leaves hide the fire,” his voice holds a trace of irritation as he projects it so it carries through the apartment and he looks like he’d just been told he’d have to do a month of paperwork. His eyes pass over her for just a moment before flicking back. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tou-San? What happened?” She slides her sword back into the sheath and steps out of the shadows. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Had a traitor use an academy student to try to steal a scroll. Kid is fine, an Academy Sensei interfered before he could get killed. The traitor has been dealt with.” His voice takes on a darkly satisfied note when he says the last bit. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is hit with a horrible sense of knowing. She is willing to bet her hitai-ate she knows exactly which student was involved. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tell me it wasn’t Naruto.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">If he managed to get himself involved in a plot to steal from Konoha she’s going to kill him. The boy is going to be the reason she ends up prematurely grey. She can’t deal with the sheer stupidity it would take to get involved in something like that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-san’s lips twitch into a sardonic half smile and he inclines his head enough to confirm her suspicions. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi barely keeps from throwing her sword in a fit of rage. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m going to bed, Tou-san. Sleep well.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The sound of her father’s laughter follows her into her bedroom. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto has the good sense to avoid her for the next week. She thinks that’s the best idea he’s had in his short little life, intentional or not. It’s probably the only reason her kill count doesn’t start off with with a scrawny academy student. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he appears, hitai-ate proudly display across his forehead on the day of team assignments, Katsumi can feel her eye twitch. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A field promotion. The blonde idiot went and got a field promotion to genin. Because of course he did. Why wouldn’t he? It’s the exact type of stupid luck he possesses. She didn’t even know it was possible to get a field promotion to genin. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She forces herself to relax and smiles at him. Regardless of the circumstances, he’s a genin now and she’s going to be happy for her friend. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oi, Naruto, only people who passed the exam are supposed to be here,” Shikamaru’s eyebrows are drawn together and she knows he’s piecing it together too. Knows he’s only speaking up so Naruto will confirm the obvious. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto puffs up in indignation, loudly, and with far more gesturing than would ever be necessary, announces that Iruka-Sensei passed him. Because of course it was Iruka-Sensei, what other Sensei would grant a field promotion to the rank of genin. Katsumi wonders if after this incident new rules were set in place to prevent it from happening again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru seems satisfied enough by the explanation and promptly enters into his hibernation. Katsumi pities the Jounin who gets the impossible task of motivating him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s not entirely sure what happens next, knows Uchiha says something and Naruto suddenly deviates from his path to her side. She sees him hop up on the Uchiha’s desk and glare down at him. She’s not sure what’s going on, tries not to get involved in the strange rivalry those two have, but she has a feeling she should pay attention. Feels like she doesn’t want to miss whatever’s coming.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She nudges Shikamaru until he huffs and opens his eyes just enough to follow her gaze to the unfolding drama, figuring he’ll probably enjoy whatever entertainment is on the way too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s not clear on how it happens, from her angle it’s impossible to tell if it’s intentional or not, but suddenly Naruto and the Uchiha are kissing. She blinks once, then twice, flares her chakra to check for genjutsu. No, they actually just did that. Interesting, she didn’t think their rivalry was like that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The pair break apart, wiping their mouths and yelling their disgust. Okay. Maybe it was an accident. She watches in stunned silence as Ino and Haruno put their own rivalry aside to attack the new threat to their goal. Katsumi thinks she should probably interfere, should probably save Naruto from this new stupidity, but she’s seen how vicious Ino can be when it comes to her crush, figures Haruno is probably the same. Katsumi likes not going to the hospital, personally. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru slumps in his seat beside her and shoots her a look, “that’s your idiot. Isn’t it your job to keep him out of trouble?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She stifles a giggle, “too troublesome.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With an amused snort, he closes his eyes again. He’s been friends with Ino longer than she has, he knows a lost cause when he sees one, too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally Iruka-Sensei enters the classroom, moving a bit stiffer and slower than usual. Behind him, jounin file in to stand against the chalkboard. She’s disappointed to see she doesn’t recognize any of them. She knows Gai-San got a team last year, he’d quite literally shouted it from the rooftops, so she’s not surprised he isn’t there. She’d hoped, however, to have Genma-san or Anko-san as a Sensei. Would have been thrilled to have one of them as her jounin Sensei. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She looks them over, only one woman. It’s something Katsumi has noticed before. The wildly skewed ratio of male to female shinobi. It’s not something she understands the point of. Doesn’t see why kunoichi seem to drop out of the Shinobi corps so much more, especially when girls tend to enter the academy at the same rate as boys. Doesn’t understand why no one else seems to consider it a problem. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi counts nine jounin in total. She knows genin teams are made up of a jounin and three genin. She runs her eyes over the class. Now that Naruto is graduated there’s twenty-eight new genin. That leaves a lone genin. Katsumi wonders who ended up with an apprenticeship. Her eyes slide to the Uchiha prodigy. She figures jounin would be fighting tooth and nail for the opportunity to have him as their student. That settled, she sits back and waits to find out her team assignment. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Iruka-Sensei clears his throat and the class settles, Naruto finally managing to make it to his seat. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good morning, students! Today you’ll be assigned your genin teams, the jounin behind me will be your Sensei from this day forward. Listen closely for your name and leave with your new Sensei when you hear it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Iruka-Sensei glances down at the clip board in his hand. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Team ten is Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji, and Nara Shikamaru , under Sarutobi Asuma.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi isn’t surprised, she’s known about the whole Ino-Shika-Cho thing since befriending the three. She never even bothered to hope she’d have one of them on her team. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With a put upon sigh, Shikamaru stands up and stretches, pulling her ponytail slightly as he walks by her to follow his Sensei out the door. Ino goes much less calmly, complaining the entire way about not being on a team with the Uchiha. Choji seems almost as indifferent as Shikamaru does to the news. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Iruka-Sensei waits until the door closes to continue. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Team eight: Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata, under Yuhi Kurenai.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Aside from Inuzuka loudly proclaiming his team is the best and his dog barking excitedly, team eight leaves silently and fuss free. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">On and on it goes, until there’s a single Sensei left, and Katsumi, Naruto, Uchiha, and Haruno sitting in the room. Idly, she wonders when the Sensei for Sasuke is going to arrive. It’s clear he’d be the one with an apprenticeship, after all. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The jounin that’s left is wearing a face guard that reminds her of the nidaime’s giant stone face. He looks friendly enough with wide dark eyes and lips that are tilted slightly up at the corners as he looks out at them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Iruka-Sensei hesitates for a moment, looking displeased at his clipboard. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Team seven: Ishihara Katsumi, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Under Hatake Kakashi.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is startled, and shoots a quick glance over at Haruno. She wonders why the pink haired girl ended up with an apprenticeship. Wonders how. She’s intelligent and has near prodigious chakra control, but she scores low in anything involving physical activities, lacks the necessary drive to improve. It’s not at all a combination that would normally make a jounin want to take on an apprentice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Haruno seems floored too, her mouth opening and closing rapidly. She looks ready to cry, but Katsumi can’t see why. It’s a good thing to get an apprenticeship. A really good thing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Before Iruka-Sensei can continue, Naruto explodes, too quickly for Katsumi to stop it in time. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But Iruka-Sensei! Why do I have to be on a team with him?!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As much as Katsumi likes Naruto, she quickly decides she doesn’t want to be on his team, not if it means dealing with the stupid rivalry. She silently curses who ever came up with the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She watches the vein in Iruka-sensei’s forehead pulse and mentally braces for the screaming. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He doesn’t yell, though. Instead he takes a deep breath, and says in a firm, no nonsense voice, “Teams have been carefully considered based on the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals. Sasuke is the rookie of the year, Katsumi is the top Kunoichi, and you, Naruto, are at the bottom of the class. That’s why you’re on the same team.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi raises an eyebrow. She knows that can’t be right. She’s almost positive that Haruno was textbook perfect in everything except maybe Taijutsu. There’s absolutely no way Katsumi beat her for that spot. It must be because Haruno got an apprenticeship. She still wants to know how that happened. Maybe she should have payed her more attention before. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Finally, Sakura, you will be apprenticed under Yamato.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The man behind Iruka-Sensei steps forward, offering Haruno a small smile and inclining his head towards the door. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches the other Kunoichi go with the last Jounin in the room. A quick glance at Iruka-Sensei shows him rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Um, Your Sensei is on his way, just wait here for now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The silence is awkward and oppressing. All three newly minted genin are silently staring at him. Only Katsumi’s eyes move as she tracks his every movement on his way out the door. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The door closes, and the three are left alone. Naruto is sulking beside her at the indignity of being on Uchiha’s team. Uchiha seems to be trying to become a statue, not a single muscle is moving on the boy. Left with little else to do, Katsumi tries to meditate to pass the time. Figures it will only be a few minutes anyway. Things happen, after all, people can’t always help being late. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s harder than usual, Naruto’s grumbling only increases in volume as the minutes creep by. Most of what he says doesn’t even make sense, like he’s completely discarded what little filter his mouth had to start with. When she hears furniture moving and Naruto giggling, Katsumi knows she needs to step in. She prefers preventing the problem altogether over doing damage control after Naruto does something stupid. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she opens her eyes, she’s greeted by the sight of Naruto precariously balancing on a chair, trying to stick an eraser on the door. It’s possibly his weakest attempt at a prank she’s ever seen him do. She’s actually surprised he’s lowering himself to such a basic prank. She knows he’s come up with far more complex ones before. Ones that are much more entertaining. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto, put the eraser back.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No! It’s what he gets for being late.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto, this is not how we want to start off meeting our Sensei.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“He was late first! I’m only getting him back!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This is the weakest prank you’ve ever pulled, I’m ashamed for you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches him pause and consider that. For a beautiful moment she thinks she got through to him. Then Uchiha has to pipe up. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No way a Jounin could ever fall for anything an idiot like you does.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto stiffens, his face turning a bright red, and she can visibly see him gearing up to yell. Katsumi knows at that moment there’s absolutely no way she’s going to convince him to put the eraser back. Naruto becomes blind and deaf to all attempts at reason once Uchiha opens his mouth. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With a stifled groan she closes her eyes. Desperately she tries to block them out and continue meditating. It’s hard to focus on her breathing, much less the feel of her chakra, when she’s listening to the idiots that are now her teammates bicker. It’s more like a one sided argument, really, with Naruto yelling and Uchiha just making his weird hum sound he uses to respond to just about everything. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hears the door creak just a bit and the boys fall silent. Exhaling one final time, she opens her eyes and watches in resignation as that stupid eraser falls off the door onto their new Sensei’s head. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The man’s entire face except for a single eye is covered and when he looks up at them with that eye curved up in false friendliness, she just knows this is going to go terribly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well... how can I put this? My first impression of you three.... I hate you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yeah, There it is. Exactly what she expected. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The silver haired man’s eye seems to curve even more. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Meet me on the roof in three minutes.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As soon as he finishes speaking, he disappears, leaves fluttering to the ground giving away his shushin. Strange, her tou-san’s doesn’t do that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A heartbeat passes as the three genin process what he said. Suddenly it’s a mad dash to make it to the roof on time. Naruto and Uchiha treating it like a high stakes competition. They end up pushing and shoving each other, trying to get ahead. Katsumi doesn’t pay them any mind, too focused on trying to find the most efficient way up to the roof. She ends up half leaping, half running up the stairs, the stampede of boys behind her is more than loud enough to tell her they’re actually in motion again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Uchiha pushes past her roughly right as she opens the door to the roof, and an irritated growl breaks past her teeth at the rudeness. Naruto is marginally better, actually making sure he doesn’t run into her as he rushes through the door a half step behind their teammate. Small mercies, she supposes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She makes it over to where their Sensei is waiting last. The boys are panting like it was a marathon and already bickering. The jounin is watching them all with disinterest. She doesn’t like the way it’s clear he’s already disregarding any potential they might have. It makes her want to growl at him too. She wonders how it would go over if she did. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She pushes Naruto onto the steps and makes sure she’s between the two boys with her body angled towards Naruto. Uchiha may have a bad attitude and may antagonize the blonde boy, but Naruto is the one who blows up. He’s also the one she knows how to work with. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Almost a minute late. Not a very good start.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s a weird kind of gleeful condescension in their Sensei’s tone when he speaks. Katsumi is going to lose her mind on this team, she can already tell and it hasn’t even been a day yet. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She slaps a hand over Naruto’s mouth as he goes to make a retort. When he gives her a disbelieving look, Katsumi just shakes her head at him. He needs to learn how to pick his battles, she adds that to her mental list of things she needs to fix in Naruto. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, I suppose we should start with introductions, shouldn’t we? Tell me your name, likes, dislikes, dreams, hobbies, that kind of thing,” his eye curves up again, but he does nothing to hide the disinterest in his tone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto squints up at him, distrust evident. Naruto distrusts most adults though, so Katsumi isn’t surprised. She is surprised when he speaks up. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sensei! You should start!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Well, That’s possibly the most sensible thing she’s heard from him today. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The silver haired jounin just shrugs in response, “Well.. I’m Hatake Kakashi, I like some things and dislike others, I haven’t really considered my dream for the future, and I have a lot of hobbies. Your turn blondie.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi wishes she were surprised by the non-answer. It sounds like something her Tou-San or Genma-San would respond with. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto seems to swell up in excitement and she thinks she can guess where this is going to go. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and Iruka-Sensei and Katsumi-Chan! I don’t like the time it takes for Ramen to cook! My hobbies are training with Katsumi-Chan and eating ramen! My Dream is to become Hokage! Then everyone will have to acknowledge me!!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi relaxes, thank Kami, he only mentioned ramen twice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re up, little girl.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi refrains from bristling at the moniker. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My name is Ishihara Katsumi. I like training, Kenjutsu, and shoji. I don’t like yelling, incompetence or rudeness. My hobbies are practicing stealth with Genma-san, playing shoji, and watching Naruto play pranks. My dream is to become a strong Kunoichi like my mother.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As she speaks, Katsumi is startled by much of her life revolves around training. She had been grasping at straws for hobbies. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And finally, you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei turns his gaze on Uchiha expectantly. Katsumi figures this is the student he’s actually interested in having.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike most things, I don’t really like anything. I don’t have hobbies and my ambition is to restore my clan and kill a certain man.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is speaking before she can stop herself, “the Yamanaka’s would have a field day with you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto starts cackling instantly, like she’s just said the funniest joke he’s ever heard. She’s not sure why a basic observation is funny, though. It’s the truth. The Yamanaka love prying into people’s heads and fixing them. Or breaking them. Really depends on the person, she thinks. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Uchiha gives her a murderous look, but before he can retort, Kakashi-Sensei claps his hands to regain their attention. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Okay! Meet me tomorrow morning at eight sharp at training ground three for your genin test. We’ll be doing some survival training.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That... doesn’t sound good. The pure glee in his voice sets her teeth on edge. This can’t go well. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What do you mean our genin test?” Surprisingly it’s Uchiha who asks. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah! We already graduated the academy! We’re ninja now, dattebayo!” Naruto’s voice is an unholy cross between angry, confused, and worried. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ahh but each Jounin gets to test their new team, decide if they are really worthy of the name shinobi. If you fail, well I suppose you can always go to the genin corps or go back to the academy and try again next year. Whichever one you prefer really.” The eye smile is back full force. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh and tomorrow? Skip breakfast unless you want to vomit.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With that, their new Sensei disappears again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi narrows her eyes at the spot he was just in. She knows she can make this team work, she just has to figure out what ever “survival training” test he’s going to give them. Just has to make sure Naruto does too. Uchiha is a prodigy. She figures he can figure it out on his own. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Resolve fills her chest and she grabs Naruto by the wrist, intent on dragging him home with her to plan and prepare. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey! Katsumi-chan, where are we going?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“To find Otou-San, we have plans to make.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They are going to pass. She will make sure of it. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-san is useless. When they explain what Kakashi-sensei told them, he only grins one of his secretive grins. They remind her of her Kaa-san’s smile in the one picture they have of her. Katsumi thinks he learned it from her. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s strange having Naruto in her home. She’d never even invited Shikamaru into the little apartment before. It feels like her safe haven has been invaded, like Naruto is a foreign entity. In some ways he is. Her loud, exuberant friend takes up more space then she and her tou-san  combined due to the sheer energy he exudes. He bounces excitedly around her apartment looking at everything like it’s something interesting to be discovered. Points at the pictures and drawings and papers on the fridge that chart out her life and exclaims in awe about having someone care enough to do that for her. He finds her shoji board and examines each piece carefully, like it’s a work of art instead of a plain, second handset that still has bloodstains on the edges of it and cracks in some of the pieces. Her tou-San had been so pleased to give it to her, she’d deliberately never mentioned those stains. Naruto does though, wants to know how they happened and Katsumi can only shrug and tell him that’s how it came. He even finds her katana, lovingly hung on the wall above her bed. Tou-San has been too busy to start her dual wielding lessons, but she cares for it everyday like it’s her own child. She has to resist the urge to snap at him when he leaves fingers prints on the blade. She’ll have to clean it again. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s never thought their home was the nicest, knows there are far, far nicer places to live, but this apartment is the only home she remembers. It’s the only one that matters, and a small part of her is filled with happiness to see her friend’s genuine appreciation of it. It makes her wonder though, just what his home must be like if he thinks hers is so wonderful. He’s never let her visit his home, either. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he’s finally investigated to his heart’s content, they settle side by side on the floor and begin to plot. They debate what they should bring. Should she bring both her swords? Should they bring a medical kit? Do they need a full set of kunai? Or more? How much ninja wire do they need? Does Naruto need anything for traps? It’s survival training, so would soldier pills come in handy? </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eventually, they’re satisfied with the equipment they pack into their bags. Twice the amount of Kunai and shuriken as usual, Naruto carries the ninja wire, and an extra fistful of explosive tags. Since she mentioned to him he’d be good at traps, he’d obsessed over the idea. Katsumi knows she wouldn’t want to be caught in anything Naruto dreams up. She carries the soldier pills and medical kit, Naruto heals quicker than her and has much better stamina and he’d insisted she carry it, so it’ll be in arms reach if she gets injured. Loudly and confidently declares he can do without it. Katsumi decides to take only her wakizashi, figures a survival test is not a good time to try out her katana. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they get to techniques they know, Katsumi is shocked to learn her Uzumaki has mastered Kage Bushin. She’s even more shocked to learn he can seemingly spam them unendingly. Apparently doing that and then beating Mizuki-sensei, the traitor, half to death, is the way to get a field promotion to genin. Well, she figures, that will be useful. That combined with the insane stealth training Katsumi has had, makes them feel a bit more confident about their odds of succeeding. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When her tou-San sets a plate of fish and fried vegetables beside each of them, Naruto looks like he’s ready to burst into tears, like he can’t believe he’s getting to eat too. After that he seems to decide her Tou-San really is trustworthy, stops flinching when he sees him move out of the corner of his eye, quits bracing himself for a hit that’s never going to come. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s late in the night when they finish their planning. Naruto looks lost and a little sad when he starts to make his way to the door. Katsumi shoots her Tou-San a pleading look, and when he just shrugs in response she grabs Naruto and drags him back to the couch. She digs through the hamper until she finds the softest blanket they have and grabs an extra pillow off her bed and marches back to the confused looking boy. When she drops the scavenged things into his lap and firmly tells him he’s staying the night, he looks like she’d just gifted him all the gold in the world. Katsumi is quickly coming to hate the fact the village taught this happy, kind boy that he doesn’t deserve any benevolence, shouldn’t even expect it. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she’s satisfied Naruto has settled in and isn’t going to bolt out the door, she makes her own way to bed. As she goes, her eyes catch her father’s. The proud gleam in them tells her all she needs to know. Katsumi can’t fix the world, can’t make the village love the boy, but she thinks she can share her safe haven with Naruto. They’re a team, after all. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi wakes early the next morning, prepares like she’s walking into a war zone. Counts her kunai (twenty-four) and her shuriken (forty), checks the medical kit (two rolls of bandages, six blood replacement pills, a tourniquet, and a needle and thread for stitches), counts out ten soldier pills (more than enough really, it’s not safe to take more than four in a day), makes sure her smoke bombs and explosive tags are stored safely and are as easily accessible as the kunai and shuriken, and double checks her wakizashi’s sharpness. She has no idea what Kakashi-Sensei has in store for them, but she’s not going to be caught unprepared. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi looks in her mirror and considers herself. Pale green, serious eyes stare back at her and she can see her incisor teeth trying to peak through her lips. They still don’t fit quite right in her mouth, but they don’t look awkward and too big anymore. The hitai-ate dangling around her neck is tied the way her Tou-San showed her, a strong sturdy knot that still comes loose easily if someone were to try and choke her with it. A hitai-ate can be replaced. A life can’t be. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Carefully she twists sharp ninja wire through her hair as she pulls it up for the day. A trick her Kunoichi class Sensei taught her once that she’d never bothered to implement before. Long hair is a temptation to enemies. Until Katsumi is strong enough that no idiot would dare try to get close enough to grab it, she needs to use nasty methods like ninja wire in her hair to discourage anyone who would try now. The only other viable option is to cut it, but Katsumi is just vain enough to balk at doing that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Once she’s made sure the ninja wire is carefully hidden, no need to warn someone of a potential threat after all, she slips out of her room to wake Naruto. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’s sprawled out like a starfish on the couch, snoring loud enough to wake the dead and drooling onto her pillow. The blanket is twisted around one leg and she thinks he probably got hot at some point and tried to kick it off. His jacket is discarded on the floor and she wonders if she could convince him to wear something better suited for staying hidden. She doesn’t like the way he looks like a walking target when he wears it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-san’s door is closed and from experience she knows that means he’s left already for a mission. He never closes it all the way when he’s home. She wonders how long his mission will take this time. His last mission had been two weeks before and he’d been gone over three months. Katsumi figures it’s going to be a briefer one, he’s normally able to warn her if he’s going to be gone for a long time. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Returning her attention to the sleeping blonde, she shakes him awake. Naruto nearly falls off the couch in his violent return to awareness. He looks confused and startled, like he isn’t sure where he is or who he’s with. He’ll need to learn to wake up less obviously, she thinks, if he’s ever in enemy territory, waking up properly could save his life. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Get ready, Naruto, we need to be at the training ground in an hour.” Katsumi stifles a yawn and makes her way to the kitchen. She knows they were told not to eat, but even Genma-san at his most sadistic had expected her to have at least a ration bar before training. She figures fried eggs are better than nothing. Kakashi-Sensei is just going to have to deal with it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">While she cooks, she can hear Naruto grumbling about how early it is. Privately she agrees but there’s nothing to be done for it. Kakashi-Sensei told them to be there at eight, so they will be. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Naruto finally makes his way to the kitchen and sees the plate of eggs waiting for him, his eyebrows furrow and his eyes look troubled. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi-Chan, don’t you remember? Kakashi-Sensei told us not to eat anything.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I remember, I’m choosing to disregard his advice. Now <em>eat</em>,” her voice is level and leaves no room for debate. It wasn’t an order, she is well within her rights to ignore it if she wants to. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto wavers for a moment, but ultimately the prospect of food wins out. He thanks her and then she gets to watch in mild fascination as he seems to inhale the meager breakfast. She would be impressed at the speed he can eat if it wasn’t revolting to witness. Table manners are added to her list of “things Naruto needs to learn”. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As they go to leave, they do one last supplies check, and Katsumi grabs the bentos Tou-San left for them and hands the sky blue one to Naruto. She doesn’t bother to watch him get excited about it, knows no one has ever made one for him before, doesn’t want to see him overjoyed at something that should have been a normal part of his life. She needs to be focused on their test today, can’t afford a distraction like that. She’d only get angry, and anger in a fight results in stupid mistakes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They walk calmly but with a nervous energy to training ground three. It’s one on the nicest looking training grounds. It has least amount of damage and almost looks like a park. Nothing at all like the one Genma-san favors. That one is a mess of destroyed landscape and overgrown plant life. Lots of places to hide, if you’re smart enough to find them, but difficult to maneuver in. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They arrive after Uchiha, who’s glowering at something only he can see. They greet him tiredly and are given one of his hnn’s in return. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">At least he and Naruto aren’t bickering yet, that must count for something. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi runs through her morning stretches, Naruto clumsily copying her. She’s not sure if Kakashi-Sensei will be on time today, but she figures it’s better for him to see them being productive when he arrives. She can feel Uchiha’s eyes on them, knows he’s looking at them with the same arrogant glare he always does. She refuses to acknowledge it though. If he wants to pull a muscle during the test, that’s his own choice. She’s not responsible for it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto is clearly more affected by the Uchiha’s derisive looks, she can visibly see him getting clumsier and angrier as the minutes pass. She wants to correct him when he makes a mistake during the stretches, but she’s learned from experience that when Uchiha is there to witness it, Naruto gets embarrassed and angry at the help. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She runs through all her stretches twice, and Kakashi-sensei still hasn’t shown up yet. She fingers the sword strapped against the small of her back, moved there rather than diagonally across her back for better range of motion. She debates running through her katas but doesn’t want to do anything that might tire her out before the test. Ultimately she decides to run through the most basic of her kenjutsu katas. Nothing impressive or difficult, she’d mastered them years ago and the motions are all muscle memory now. It feels good though, cutting the air with her blade in smooth, sure strokes. Her Tou-San has always emphasized smoothness over speed, likes to tell her speed follows a sure stroke. Not the other way around. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can hear the boys arguing again and closes her eyes in restrained irritation. Today is not the day for their rivalry. All of them need to be focused on the goal of passing. Not just besting each other. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s half way through a second, slightly more difficult set of katas when Kakashi-sensei finally bothers to show up. Well past the time he told them to meet. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Good morning, my cute little genin.” The eye smile is there, and it’s clear he isn’t ashamed of his lateness at all. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re late!” Naruto’s voice echoes through the quiet training ground. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa maa, sorry about that, there was a black cat and I had to take the long way to get here, bad luck you know.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’s not sorry at all. Katsumi wants to snarl at him. For once she and Uchiha are unified as they both glare balefully at the man. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei eye smiles again and pulls out a pair of bells, “the rules are simple, each of you needs to get one of these bells from me before noon. You fail if you don’t have one. The person without a bell also gets tied to one of the stumps and has to watch while the others enjoy lunch.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“There’s only two bells.” Katsumi points out stupidly. She has to be missing something here. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s right, that means one of you is definitely going to fail.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Well, that’s not good. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She watches him set a timer down on the middle stump. Already she can feel the adrenaline starting to flow through her, it makes her want to snarl and snap her teeth like a wild animal. Makes her feel like she’s about to hunt, or be hunted. Like she needs to move. Learning to control that urge had been an arduous process, and in the face of such a high stakes test it feels like that control is going to slip. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And a bit of advice: if you aren’t attacking with the intent to kill me, you won’t get a bell.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s eyes flick from the bells tied to his pants to his face. She stares at him, trying to gauge his seriousness. The eye smile is still there, but there’s an undercurrent of menace that reminds her of her Tou-san’s killing intent. Alright. Lethal force it is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She steals a glance at Naruto, whose standing slightly behind her, fists clenched and gaze fixated on their Sensei. Satisfied he’s taking this seriously, her eyes cut to Uchiha, he looks as calm and focused as ever, like he’s already assured of his success. Katsumi wonders how much of that confidence has really been earned. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“When I say start, we will begin.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Out of the corner of her eye, Katsumi can see Naruto winding up to attack Kakashi-Sensei. She shifts in front of him, blocking his path to the jounin and raises her hand just enough for him to see her make the basic Konoha hand sign for wait. Kakashi-Sensei hasn’t told them to begin yet, and they need to play to their strengths. Naruto rushing in without a thought wouldn’t benefit anyone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s the stupid eye smile again.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Begin.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Uchiha disappears instantly. Katsumi doesn’t see where he goes, doesn’t really care either. She has other concerns. Before Naruto can do something he’ll regret she grabs him and yanks him in the direction of the trees. They need cover. They need to get an advantage. An open field like that offers them nothing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They settle behind a rock about twenty meters into the forest. Katsumi doesn’t like the position, but they have to come up with a plan, the quicker the better and this is the first decent spot she saw to do it in. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We needs traps, but we need to force him into them, we have to get him to come after us.” Katsumi has no idea if this will work but it’s a better plan than trying to beat a jounin in open combat. She has no shame in admitting that they won’t be able to win against a jounin if they don’t fight dirty. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I need you to make the nastiest, meanest traps you can, the more brutal the better. Use your clones to make a lot of them and stash the jacket somewhere you can find it later. It’s too much of a giveaway of your position in this environment.” In every environment, she doesn’t say. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto looks put out at the last part but nods, face entirely serious for once and removes the orange eyesore, carefully placing it under the boulder. The wire mesh shirt he wears under it is a relief to her poor eyes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll try to distract him while you set the traps up. When you’re ready, set a paper bomb off near the first trap and I’ll try to lead him there, make the traps in a line or something so if the first fails I don’t have to hunt for the next one. Got it?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto looks troubled, “but Katsumi-Chan, what if you get caught in the traps instead?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi feels her resolve settle like a stone in her chest. “I’ll kawarimi out if I can, this is the best plan we have, can you do it?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He hesitates, clearly worried about using lethal force, but nods anyway. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good, go.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches him disappear into the trees. Waits a moment to confirm he’s really gone, then turns her attention to finding Sensei. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Suppressing her chakra, she moves. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She returns to the edge of the clearing to see Uchiha trying to fight Sensei alone. In open combat. The arrogance of that is astounding to her. Thinking he can win like that. She presses up against a tree, using every trick Genma-San ever taught her to go unnoticed. Kakashi-sensei doesn’t even seem to be paying attention to the fight, too busy reading what looks like the porn book she’d found in her tou-san’s nightstand once. She wrinkles her nose in disgust. How unprofessional. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Uchiha looks furious. He looks like he can’t believe he’s being beaten. She wonders why he thought he was as good as a jounin. There’s a reason he’s the sensei and Uchiha isn’t. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She watches Uchiha try to burn their sensei alive and has to give him points for the sheer viciousness of that. Burning someone alive takes a certain type of person. Not necessarily a good one either. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For all that willingness to kill Kakashi-sensei, he still ends up quite literally neck deep in the ground. What a strange Jutsu, she hopes she gets to learn that. It looks like fun to do to people. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Steeling herself, Katsumi steps into view. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh? Is the little girl going to try now?” Sensei’s voice has a note of amusement in it, like it’s funny that’s she’s even bothering. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Uchiha is furious and struggling from his new position in the dirt. She disregards it when he tells her she has no chance of getting the bells, disregards it when he tells her she’ll never be good enough. Her goal isn’t to get the bells right now, her goal isn’t to beat Kakashi-sensei in a fight. Her goal is to be a rabbit, not a hound today. She needs Kakashi-sensei to give chase. But first she has to make sure he’s interested enough to do so. Which means drawing blood. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She lets herself give into the snarling, rabid creature that seems to live just below the surface. she lets a vicious, feral growl escape her throat, lets a terrible parody of a smile show her new sensei her sharp, sharp teeth. Its a wonderful feeling to let that instinct wash through her instead of constantly suppressing it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’s certainly interested now. He eye smiles at her and shifts his weight just enough for him to be better angled towards her. The book is still in his hand, but that’s fine. She can always cut his hand off if she gets sick of seeing it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She slides her wakizashi out of its sheath and moves forward. He dodges each slash of the blade, uses a kunai to stop the ones he can’t dodge, each stab she makes is pushed to the side. It’s clear she’s entirely outmatched, but she knew that going in. She didn’t need this fight to figure that out. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In her last life, she memorized all the major arteries and veins in the human body, she can’t remember their names now, but the academy went over their locations. It was a refresher course she dearly appreciates having had. She aims for the one in his groin. Blocked. Aims for the on in his thigh. Dodged. Aims for the delicate skin of his wrists. Blocked. Stabs at the spot she knows his liver is located at. He pushes her blade aside like it’s nothing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s clear he’s barely trying, seeming to be content dancing around her attacks as he reads. Katsumi snarls again, she needs to make him pay enough attention for him to chase her when the traps are ready. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She decides she’s sick of the damn book. She makes like she’s going to try to run him through and when he turns his body sideways to avoid her, she lets herself move past him. Letting go of the sword, with one hand she reaches out towards him. He blocks her hand as it moves towards the bells. But she wasn’t aiming for the bells. Not really. She just manages to snatch the book from him and bolts. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi knows with absolute certainty she got what she wanted when the strongest killing intent she’s ever felt floods the area. Katsumi’s actually terrified for her life. She doesn’t know if Jounin Sensei’s are allowed to murder their students, but she thinks Kakashi-sensei may do it either way. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s running blind. Weaving around trees as fast as she can, trying to keep silent and suppress her chakra all the while. She has no idea where Kakashi-sensei is but she knows he’s after her. She is desperate for Naruto to signal where the traps are. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally Naruto sets off the explosive tag. Much to her everlasting joy, it’s close enough that if all goes well she’ll be able to reach it before Kakashi-sensei runs her through with her own sword. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She has no idea where Naruto is, doesn’t really have time to check. But she knows where Kakashi-sensei is. She can practically feel him breathing down her neck. She can see the trap, knows she’s so close to getting what she wants. She has no idea what Naruto came up with but she thinks she’ll be happy with anything so long as it means her mad dash through the forest is over. She stops just short of the trap, flinging the book through it, and dives out of the way. With some luck, the trap will be nasty enough to beat Kakashi-sensei and destroy his porn. She’s so sick of the color orange. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The trap goes off and it is so much worse than she thought it would be. It seems Naruto used every explosive tag he had on it. Had used ninja wire to rig them together so the slightest touch against a wire set them all off. Turns out a book being thrown as hard as possible is enough pressure to trigger the trap. Katsumi is somewhere between awed and absolutely terrified that Naruto actually managed to kill the man. She knows she told him to make the most brutal traps he could, but she wasn’t expecting something so... extreme. She can feel the heat of the explosions against her skin and her ears are ringing so badly she can’t hear much else. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She just lies on the ground staring at the smoldering, burning trees. She is frozen in place, entirely fixated on the mess in front of her. So engrossed in damage Naruto caused she barely notices when Kakashi-sensei looms over her, book in hand and smoke wafting off him. She barely notices the Killing intent pouring off him. Doesn’t even register the menacing false cheer on what little of his face she can see. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Time’s up, Katsumi-Chan. You lose.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She does notice that. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi ends up tied to the post. To be perfectly honest, she really wasn’t expecting anything less after stealing from and subsequently trying to blow up her sensei. She thinks she would be tied to the post even if she had gotten a bell. He seems petty like that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Uchiha and Naruto sit on either side of her. Uchiha is fuming, while Naruto keeps shooting her worried looks. She knows she looks like she got dragged through hell, but she’s not the one who’s smoking. That’s all Kakashi-sensei. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi-Chan, I’m sorry I almost blew you up. I kinda underestimated how big the explosion was going to be.” Naruto scratches the back of his head, the way he always does when he’s uncertain of how someone will react to him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Well, at least she knows he wasn’t actually trying to murder their sensei. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s fine, you followed the plan perfectly. We never really had a chance to get those bells.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She figured that out as Kakashi-sensei had carried her over his shoulder to the post. He was clearly going easy on them. He never intended for them to succeed in the first place. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Can’t have been a very good plan, since you couldn’t even get close to the bells.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi shoots the Uchiha her prettiest smile, “I’m sorry, but who ended up stuck in a hole?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Before he can offer a retort, Kakashi-Sensei interrupts. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I have to say, I’m disappointed. Do you know what the object of this test was?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is still half convinced it was a fools errand and holds her tongue. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Um, to get the bells?” Naruto is squinting up at Kakashi-sensei warily, like he already knows that’s the wrong answer but can’t think of anything else. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No! It’s teamwork! Sasuke, you didn’t even consider working with the others! You were convinced they would be nothing but deadweight. But they got closer to getting the bells than anyone else before them! Naruto! You willingly risked killing your own teammate to complete the mission! It doesn’t matter that they said to do it! Unnecessarily and willingly sacrificing a teammate is not acceptable! And Katsumi, you completely disregarded Sasuke. You watched him fight me and couldn’t even be bothered to try and help him! Arrogance, stupidity and indifference. None of you are fit to be shinobi!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi stares up at their sensei, stricken. She knows they did badly, but to hear it broken down so harshly is sobering. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Suddenly there’s a Kunai pressing against her throat. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke, kill Naruto now or Katsumi dies.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Uchiha actually looks mildly panicked while Naruto is frantically yelling nonsense. It’s reassuring on some level that Uchiha doesn’t seem to know what to do. She’s marginally more confident that he wouldn’t just let one of them die now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Kunai vanishes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s what happens on missions. A hostage is taken and you have an impossible choice. I purposely pitted you against each other to see if you’d put your comrades above the mission.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The genin are utterly silent. There’s no argument to be made. They all fell short in the ways that mattered. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei turns away from them to face the stone in behind him. Katsumi’s body goes cold as she recognizes it. The memorial stone. She knows exactly where to find her mother’s name on it. Had visited it every year with her Tou-San, or with Shikaku-San when her father was gone, on her mother’s birthday. Had left countless flowers, traced her mother’s name a thousand times. Seeing it after failing so badly increases her shame tenfold. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The names of Konoha’s hero’s are carved into this stone.” Kakashi-Sensei’s voice is solemn, filled with old grief. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s awesome! One day I’ll have my name-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto, shut up,” Katsumi’s voice is hollow, her eyes tracing out her mother’s name, “the people who get their name on that stone do it by getting killed in action. My mother’s name is there.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto goes still, his eyes wide and sorrowful, but he stays blessedly silent. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi is right. The names of my closest friends are on there as well.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei turns back to them, his eyes lingering on her for just a moment longer than on the others. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Those who break the rules are scum, kids, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Remember that and don’t make the same mistakes again.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We won’t! Kakashi-sensei, I promise we won’t! Please give us one more chance!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto’s voice rings with the same conviction as it does when he says he’s going to be hokage. Like the world will adjust to make room for whatever he does all because he says so. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei looks at each of them long and hard. Katsumi feels like she’s waiting on her execution. She’s not sure they deserve a second chance but she wants one anyway. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I suppose one more chance can’t hurt. We’ll try again in an hour. Boys, leave katsumi tied to the post, you may eat, but she has to go hungry. If you feed her or untie her, you fail.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He shushins away after that, leaving the children to their own devices. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t mind not eating, still full enough from the eggs that morning to be okay. It’s the rope she doesn’t like. Kakashi-sensei tied it just tight enough to be uncomfortable and she can’t stand it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s an awkward silence as the boys seem to debate eating in front of her. Naruto looks like he’s contemplating fast with her and she sighs internally. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just eat already, We need to be at a hundred percent to get the bells this time.” Katsumi snaps at them. She’s honestly more focused on trying to loosen the rope enough that her hands don’t go numb. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You need to eat to though, Katsumi-Chan! You were running from Kakashi-sensei! And he looked super angry. What’d you do to him to get him that angry?” Naruto’s eyes are wide and curious even as he picks at his food reluctantly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll be fine, it’s the rope I can’t stand, it’s cutting off circulation to my hands. And I stole his porn.” In retrospect, that may have been a bit suicidal. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Uchiha eyes her like he’s already determined she’s insane. Then he does something she wasn’t expecting. Especially not from him. He pulls a kunai and stands up. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey! Teme! What are you doing to Katsumi-chan?!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shut up dobe, she’s a kenjutsu specialist. If she can’t feel her hands she’s going to be useless.” Katsumi can hear the irritation in his voice as he crouches behind her and carefully begins to cut away the rope. He’s surprisingly gentle, going out of his way to avoid nicking her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well... if you’re going to cut her wrists loose, I’m going to untie her, dattebayo!” Leave it to Naruto to make it a competition. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto is much more enthusiastic but struggles more as he cuts her loose. He ends up cutting a few small holes in her tank top but he’s making good progress. This... is not what she expected. She appreciates it though and just prays Kakashi-sensei doesn’t fail them for it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then killing intent returns full force and they all freeze. Kakashi-sensei looks furious as he looms over them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“YOU ALL.... pass.” The killing intent vanishes like it was never there to begin with. Katsumi is confused. From the looks of things the boys are too, though Uchiha hides it better. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We... pass? Why?” Katsumi looks up at the man they all spent the day wholeheartedly trying to murder, well, except maybe Naruto, but Uchiha definitely was, and so was Katsumi. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He eye smiles at them, “those who break the rules are scum, those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Naruto and Sasuke ignored orders and willingly failed the mission to help you. So congratulations, as of today this is officially team seven!”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s not sure what she expected from Kakashi-Sensei’s trading methods but she’s not impressed. Training seems to be little more that spending hours waiting for him to show up and the taking turns sparring while he reads his porn. Katsumi can tolerate the D-ranks that are just chores, can tolerate the lateness. She is quickly loosing patience with the man’s lack of real teaching. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It worries her to be honest. A sensei who isn’t willing to teach them is one who’d rather carry their corpses home than bother to equip them with the skills they need to survive. A sensei who doesn’t teach is a sensei who doesn’t care. And after an entire week of it, Katsumi snaps. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She rarely looses her temper, tries not to lash out. Doesn’t like disrespecting authority but she’s had enough. After watching another spar between Naruto and Sasuke that goes the exact same way as all the others and watching Kakashi-sensei pay the bare minimum of attention, she explodes. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She marches up to Kakashi-sensei and glares at him. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hmm, yes my cute little genin?” He doesn’t even look up from the book. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I get you don’t want to be our sensei! I get this is a bother for you! But guess what? We are your students! Your responsibility! If we die in the field it will be because you didn’t think we were worth the time to train properly! You told us we have to value and care about our comrades! You’re being a hypocrite by not teaching us! Train us or find someone who will!”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is panting by the time she’s done, and the boys have stopped sparing and are watching the scene with equal expressions of horror, though Sasuke manages to mask it a bit. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei lowers his book and stares down at her. She refuses to back down though. He may not care, but this is her future, and Naruto’s, and Sasuke’s on the line. This is important. By deliberately not training them well, he’s practically killing them himself. She refuses to let this man be the reason she’s killed the first time she leaves the village. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, no need to be so aggressive Katsumi-chan, if you were bored you could have just said so.” The eye smile is back and Katsumi knows he’s going to make her suffer for that outburst. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He takes a step back, flashes through a few hand seals and slaps the ground. Katsumi takes a step back as she watches fuinnjutsu lines shoot out from his palm. Already she knows this isn’t going to be fun. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">What appears are... dogs? Katsumi tilts her head and stares at them. She likes dogs but she’s almost positive that this isn’t going to be a cuddle fest with puppies. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My cute little genin, meet my pack. My pack, meet my cute little genin. You three are going to run. My pack is going to chase you. If they catch you, you lose.” The eye smile is full force. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Thanks Katsumi.” Sasuke mutters it under his breath low enough she can barely hear it. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Um, Sensei, how long do we have to run?” Naruto looks vaguely ill. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Until I say stop of course. Oh and no killing my dogs. Now run.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As one, team seven bolts. Sasuke is in the front, running with a single minded focus that Katsumi can appreciate. Naruto is running panicked and uncoordinated and more than once she has to grab him and pull him in the right direction. They’re a team, they aren’t going to separate if they can help it. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The dogs aren’t barking like she expected them to be. It’s eerie really, to be chased by a pack of utterly silent dogs. It’s not as hair raising as being chased by an angry Kakashi-sensei though. Nothing will ever top the pure blind terror of that experience. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They run for hours. It seems like the dogs never tire. Thankfully Naruto doesn’t seem to either and at one point he has both Katsumi and Sasuke thrown over his shoulders running full speed through the trees. It’s embarrassing and she resolves to never talk about that again. Sasuke looks like he would agree with that decision. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally though, they just can’t keep going. They’re pouring sweat, covered in leaves and mud and scratches from darting through bushes, and their legs are actually shaking. As one they collapse on the ground and just accept that the dogs are going to win.</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The dogs catch up to them less than a second later. All of them circling around the genin, looking like they barely did a light jog. If she didn’t know better, she’d say they almost look amused. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Kakashi-sensei appears, he’s eye smiling still. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, I think that was a good warm up, wasn’t it?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi wonders if maybe she should have kept her mouth shut. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Things change after that. Sensei is still late, and he still reads his porn, and the d-ranks are still terrible, but he does train them. He corrects every mistake they make when they spar, makes they run through formation after formation, until the three can do all of them without a thought, runs them into the ground to build their stamina. He asks them for everything they can give during training, and then asks for more. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It leaves Katsumi exhausted at the end of every day. She doesn’t even have the energy to do her nightly kenjutsu practice after he’s done with them. Katsumi adores it. This is what she wanted from a sensei to begin with. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She learns to work around the fires Sasuke is so keen on setting, to attack while someone is busy trying to avoid becoming ash, learns to avoid Naruto’s traps without skipping a beat. She learns it’s almost comically easy to fall into step with Sasuke. She loves Naruto, and can work with him, but Sasuke is her ideal partner, only a word or two is needed to communicate plans with him. Naruto just requires a bit too much management on her part. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto and Sasuke are also strangely in sync. It’s eerie, really, watching them move together. When they aren’t bickeringit’s like they’re </span>
  <span class="s1">one mind sharing two bodies. They don’t even have to speak to know what to do with each other. It’s fascinating to watch, but absolutely awful to spar against. So much fire. So many clones.</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Kakashi-sensei starts them on tree climbing, she’s less enthused. Katsumi hates heights, is absolutely terrified of them. It’s a bad phobia for a shinobi to have and she knows she needs to get over it, but this is not the way she wanted to do that. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he demonstrates, she feels sick just looking at how high up he is. She wants nothing to do with that. But he’s given them their orders and it’s an essential skill for a Konoha shinobi to have. She has no choice but to do it. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She watches as Naruto and Sasuke both make it maybe two meters up the tree before being blasted off by their overuse of chakra. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That looks... painful. She really hopes she doesn’t over do the chakra. Carefully, she places one foot on the tree, channels a tiny bit of chakra to her feet and tries to walk. She falls on her butt. She stands up and tries again, channels a little more chakra and falls over again. It takes her ten tries to make her foot stick and it feels like a victory. Carefully, she tries to channel the same amount of chakra to her other foot. It sticks but barely. Finally after a few nervous seconds she gets the amount right and slowly makes it up the tree. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The first time she slips she panics and throws her hands forward towards the tree and accidentally sticks her hands to it with chakra. It’s so much easier to direct chakra to her hands instead of feet. She dangles like that for a moment, listening as the boys running up their trees and fall or get blasted off over and over again. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She manages to get one foot stuck back onto the tree. Doesn’t take her hands off until she manages the second one. She can see Kakashi-sensei sitting at the top of the tree, for once actually watching them entirely, amusement is dancing through his one eye. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That amusement makes her grit her teeth and push her fear down. She refuses to fail at this, refuses to let herself mess up just because of an irrational fear. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Slowly, she starts moving again, it’s hard, and she nearly slips a few more times, but she eventually ends up sitting on a branch just below sensei. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Content with her success, she settles down to watch the boys. Sasuke is doing better than Naruto with chakra control but he seems to struggle maintaining his momentum as he goes high. Naruto just keeps exploding off of trees, can’t seem to manage sticking for more than a minute. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, Katsumi-Chan, feeling better now that you know you won’t fall?” Amusement is evident in Kakashi-Sensei’s voice despite the bored tone that seems to define his speech. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She tenses up in shame for a moment. Of course their sensei caught her fear. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes, Sensei.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’s right though, she does feel more confident knowing she can catch herself if she falls. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They watch in companionable silence as the boys keep trying for another hour. Finally, they must reach a point Kakashi-Sensei is satisfied with because he stands up on his branch. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, Katsumi-Chan, do you think the Tora mission will be up for grabs today?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi groans, she hates that stupid cat. There is no way it’s a normal animal. She’s convinced it’s like Kakashi-Sensei’s dogs. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">At least they get the day off tomorrow. Thank Kami for small mercies. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eventually, all of team seven is tired of d-ranks. Tired of doing chores for civilians who give Sasuke unwanted attention and give Naruto filthy, hateful looks. They’re tired of doing missions that feel utterly pointless. It doesn’t matter that it’s good PR for Shinobi if civilians see them being helpful. Doesn’t matter that they’re paid to do them, minuscule as that pay is. They want a C-rank. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei hesitates, but relents after nearly two days of pestering from the whole team. Not before running them into the ground for their troubles, though. Kakashi-sensei isn’t that nice.  Even Sasuke swallows his pride enough to plead, though it sounds more like an order than anything. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He takes them to Mission headquarters, bypasses the room designated for D-rank mission intake and assignment, and leads them into a room deeper into the building. It’s a big room, and there’s chuunin and a few older genin teams milling about. No one even seems to glance at them as Kakashi-sensei walks lazily over to one of the desks. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yo. Hatake Kakashi, jounin captain of genin team seven, SR-J-59120014. I need a nice, simple out of village C-rank for my cute little genins.” He eye smiles at the chuunin manning the mission desk. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The chuunin looks entirely unimpressed, but flicks through a stack of folders and pulls on out. He opens it and glances over it before nodding once and handing it over. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“C-Rank escort mission, taking a bridge builder to wave country. No problems expected aside from the usual bandits. Your client is sitting over there.” He points to an old man resting on a bench by the door, sake bottle dangling from on hand. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi isn’t impressed, but at least they aren’t weeding gardens anymore. Kakashi hums and reads through the file, walking over to the old man as he does. The genin follow behind him like ducklings. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tazuna? We are team seven, I’m Hatake Kakashi, the squad leader. We will be escorting you back to wave country.” She’s never heard her sensei sound so professional, but normally he leaves them to deal with the clients for d-ranks. She can’t even spot his ever present porn  book.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The old man pushes himself off the bench, swaying sightly as he stands. He doesn’t look anymore impressed with them than they are with him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You sure these brats are ninja? Bunch of small fry like them aren’t worth much. I’m paying good money for protection!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She slaps a hand over Naruto’s mouth, because she knows with absolute certainty he was going to yell at the client and that’s not something shinobi are allowed to do. Katsumi can practically see Sasuke snorting smoke out of his nose. Her pyromaniac teammate is libel to set the bridge builder on fire if this continues. So touchy, the pair of them.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I assure you, my genin are well prepared to escort you home safely. They have plenty of missions under their belts.” The fact they were all d-rank missions goes unmentioned. Semantics. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tazuna huffs, drinks a mouth full of the sake and Katsumi thinks he looks worried. Like he thinks they won’t be enough protection. It grates her the wrong way but she bites her tongue. If Naruto isn’t allowed to yell at a client, she’s not either. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well if you say so. I have an important bridge to get built for my town! I expect you to protect me with your lives if necessary! It’s what I’m paying for!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course, we are Shinobi after all.” She can see Kakashi-sensei eye smile at the client and knows he dislikes the man too. Really it’s impressive how much he can emote with one eye. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We’ll met you at the north gate at ten, if that’s acceptable to you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, yeah. The sooner the better.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yes, Katsumi thinks, the sooner they’re rid of the man, the better. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The night before their mission, Katsumi drags Naruto and Sasuke to her home. Tou-San is gone so she makes dinner and they eat it on the floor. There’s not enough chairs at the table for three people, and the floor has more space to spread out on and go over their supplies while they eat anyway. When Sasuke sees the fridge and it’s pictures and drawings and everything else her Tou-San ever thought to put there, he stares at it just like Naruto once did. He doesn’t look amazed or wistful though, isn’t enthusing over it. He stares at it like it’s something painful, like someone poured salt over a fresh gaping wound. Katsumi carefully doesn’t comment. He’s a touchy one. The littlest thing can make him angry, ruin all the progress they’ve made in becoming a team. Katsumi isn’t going to be the one to poke at his wounds. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They eat and they poke fun at each other, Katsumi has become well versed at making sure the boy’s banter doesn’t escalate into a fight. It’s fun. It’s a good night. They’re all excited to go on this mission and it shows. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto enthuses over all of his trap materials as he packs them into his bag, they’ll be able to sleep easy as they travel. Naruto has only become more dangerous with Kakashi-Sensei directing his natural inclination towards chaos into something productive. Sasuke sits and checks over his kunai for any flaws. The dark haired boy is a perfectionist and can’t stand for his equipment to be anything less than in perfect condition. Though, with his proclivity for fire, Katsumi isn’t sure how often his weapons will actually see action. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has both her swords at her side. In what little time they’d had lately, Tou-San has helped her get a feel for the katana. She plans to take both weapons. She can’t dual wield them yet, but she’s comfortable enough with switching between them in a fight. Besides, if she loses the wakizashi she’s going to need a different weapon. There’s never a guarantee of returning from a mission with all your weapons, after all. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s taken to coating the blades in poison as well. Much to her tou-San’s and Kakashi-Sensei’s concern. Anko had gifted her the poison, a fast acting anticoagulant that won’t necessarily kill anyone if injected or if it gets into a minor wound, but if she gets a good enough strike, will certainly see a person pass out from blood loss eventually, even if the wound wasn’t initially fatal. It was Genma-san who sat her down and showed her how to make sure the poison stays on the blade, doesn’t get wiped clean whenever she pulls it from the sheath. Katsumi would be lying if she said she wasn’t eager to try it out on someone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They fall asleep on the floor like that. Surrounded by empty plates, weapons and a month’s worth of supplies, using each other’s legs as pillows. Katsumi falls asleep with the thought that this is what having brothers must be like.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they arrive at the gate the next morning, they’re there first, before the bridge builder and before Kakashi-sensei. By now they’ve learned patience, begrudging as that patience is. Complaining about Kakashi-Sensei being late only ever results in the man being later the next day. They pass the time by reviewing the different formations that might come in handy. Their squad is ultimately supposed to be a frontline combat squad, despite Naruto’s skills with traps and Katsumi’s utterly average chakra reserves, and their formations reflect that. Almost all of them are designed to be used to carve paths through enemy lines, so they have very few that are good for guarding something with. It’s the drawback of being an offense heavy squad rather than a support squad.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Tazuna arrives thirty minutes later, it’s clear he’s drunk. He’s staggering and slurring curses as he walks and reeks of alcohol. Katsumi wonders if forcing him into sobriety during the trip would be against mission protocol. She thinks the Hokage would let it slide. She’s sure her file makes note of her habit of trying to forcibly fix problems she finds in others. Maybe they would like her to fix this one. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The genin wait for Kakashi-sensei while trying to keep upwind of the stink that Tazuna is giving off. It makes her grateful she’s not an Inuzuka. She’d probably vomit if she was. The boys don’t seem to be doing much better. Naruto is visibly green and Sasuke gets a rather funny look on his face every time he’s forced to inhale. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">By the time Kakashi-Sensei arrives, orange book in hand, it’s well past the time they were supposed to leave. There’s grumbling and cursing from Tazuna but the genin just fall into the diamond formation around him, Sasuke and Naruto on either side and Katsumi bring up the rear and follow their sensei without hesitation. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This is their first real mission. They refuse to let anything stop them from succeeding. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Chapter 32</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The trip goes bad fast. That’s the only way to describe it really. One minute they’re three days into the trip and all is well and the team is bored but confident that it’s a good and easy first mission out of the village. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next minute they’re watching Kakashi-Sensei get torn into pieces by some kind of long chains only for it to be a log he kawarimi’ed with and there’s a pair of mist nukenin attacking them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They don’t panic. Battle is what Kakashi-Sensei trained them for and that doesn’t change just because he’s gone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s short and it’s brutal and for the first time, there’s real blood on Katsumi’s sword from a real fight. The nukenin she cut is bleeding profusely from a long deep gash On the inside of his arm and another across his stomach and she knows if he doesn’t figure out a way to make the bleeding stop and stop soon that he’ll be her first kill. The poison Anko gifted her was no joke. The other was beaten stupid by a swarm of Narutos. Both the assailants are smoking and somewhat burnt from Sasuke eagerly trying to burn them alive. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei intercedes before any of the genin can truly kill the men. Tying them up against a tree and unceremoniously relieving them of all their weapons. Doesn’t even bother trying to steam the flow of blood from Katsumi’s opponent. Katsumi isn’t sure how she feels about that. The man isn’t dead yet, but she feels numb, feels like she’s already looking at a corpse she made. The other man looks like he might have swelling in the brain. She wonders if Naruto realizes the extent of the damage he dealt out. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei pushes her head until she looks in any direction other than their new captives and leads the team to Tazuna who looks entirely to pale. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tazuna, we were under the impression that the worst this mission would involve would be a few civilian bandits. Not Nukenin. Is there something you left out when you filled out that mission request?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There is no eye smile. There is no false cheerfulness. Only pure, barely restrained fury and unspoken threat. It’s a strange comfort to Katsumi to know her sensei is not someone any sane person wants to cross. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke presses his shoulder against hers. He knows about her anticoagulant poison, understands the full ramifications of her use of it in this fight. He may not be good at emotions or communication or anything involving other people, but the feel of his shoulder against hers communicates far more than she think he knows. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto is standing a little to the side, staring hard a Tazuna, eyes wide with hurt from the obvious deception. He’s always liked to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, even when they don’t deserve it, and it’s things like this that she knows bother him the most.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hardly hears the stumbling, pitiful explanation Tazuna gives them. Hardly cares. All she knows is that he lied about the mission parameters and now they’re on a mission they aren’t ready for. She has granted a slow death to a stranger, all because the bridge builder told a lie that someone had to pay for. It leaves a horrible, bitter taste in her mouth. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This mission is now an A-rank. Well above what my students are prepared to handle. Give me a reason why we shouldn’t leave you here and go home.” Kakashi-Sensei sounds like an entirely different person, sounds almost like her Tou-San did the times the emergency alarms were set off. Distantly, and perhaps a bit hysterically, she wonder which would like the comparison more. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tazuna is pleading for them to help, promising he’ll find payment. That he’ll die if they leave him now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei turns to the genin huddled together behind him, but his eyes flit to their captives first. Katsumi can’t bring herself to follow his gaze. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, children? Should we leave Tazuna? I don’t want to take you into a mission you don’t think you can handle.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi almost laughs. He’s leaving the man’s fate to three twelve-year-olds. It makes that vicious, cold part of her twist and turn in glee in the back of her head. That part of her had reveled in the knowledge there was a man behind her that was dying or already dead by exsanguination that she caused. It’s even happier now. Because it’s satisfied either way this ends. One way they continue on and she may have to kill again. The other way they kill a man by inaction. She wonders if she’s fundamentally broken. If that terrible part of her is supposed to exist or not. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s Naruto that chooses first. Brave, stupid, helpful Naruto who may have just beat a man to death with his bare hands. From the way he glances over at the nukenin, grief and shock and bone deep resolve in his eyes, she thinks he knows it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We can’t stop now. It’s not right if we leave the old man to die! We accepted this mission and all its risks! We have to see it through!” His voice is made of pure steel and Katsumi thinks that’s the voice of someone the Hokage hat would suit well. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The dobe is right. We came all this way. No point turning back now.” Sasuke’s voice is firm and steady in her ear. He’s stayed resolutely at her side since the fight ended. Katsumi has never been more grateful for his unyielding nature. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi wonders if sensei realizes all his students are stubborn to their very cores with more fight in them than the world will ever know what to do with. She hopes that if he does, he appreciates that in them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi-Chan? What do you think? We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” Kakashi-Sensei looks at her like he would understand if she wanted to quit. Too bad Katsumi never quite learned to concede defeat with grace.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course we keep going, Sensei, what else would you expect?” She forces a half grin onto her face to reassure him of her certainty. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sensei nods seriously at them and turns back to Tazuna. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You better be eternally grateful for my genins’ selfless nature. I wouldn’t be near as kind.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tazuna looks like a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders and he nods eagerly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Satisfied, Kakashi-sensei turns back to them, a somber air about him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke, stay with Tazuna. Naruto, Katsumi, come along.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi and Naruto trail silently behind Kakashi-sensei, trying to look anywhere but where he’s leading them. Sensei stops a few feet in front of the nukenin. Katsumi wants to be sick. There’s a massive pool of blood soaking into the ground around the one she fought and the coopery smell of fresh blood is overwhelming. She knows the human body holds roughly five liters of the stuff, knows a human can survive losing up to roughly forty percent of it, if they get treatment. She also knows that the pool of blood is far more than forty percent of the man’s blood volume. Katsumi knows the man is doomed if he isn’t already gone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto’s doesn’t look much better, but he’s still breathing, shallow and faint as it is. His entire skull looks swollen and it looks like his skull is fractured. It’s clear he will never wake up again. When he starts seizing, Katsumi knows his time is up too. Katsumi can’t look away from the mess of the nukenin to check on Naruto’s reaction, too shocked by the absolute horror that they wrought on the men to even blink. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Death happens on Missions. It’s part of being a Shinobi. There are going to be many times where it is you or them. It has nothing to do with right or wrong. They were a threat to the mission and to your team. If you hadn’t killed them, they may have killed you. You did what was necessary. Always choose your lives and your teammates lives over the enemy. I need you to understand it doesn’t make you a bad person to want to live enough to do this. It doesn’t make you a bad person to do something terrible but necessary. Just remember why you do it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei’s voice is soft and serious and his hands rest heavy on their shoulders. He squeezes their shoulders firmly once. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Go back to Sasuke and Tazuna. I‘ll dispose of the bodies. I think you’ve had enough for one day.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Chapter 33</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Things are more serious, after that. They aren’t joking around with each other anymore and the genin pull weapons at the slightest sound. Katsumi doesn’t bother to clamp down on her chakra signature, the boys haven’t learned that yet and she knows Naruto’s seemingly endless chakra reserves must look like a homing beacon. There’s no point in wasting the energy if Naruto is just going to draw attention anyway. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tazuna seems to understand he’s walking on thin ice. He doesn’t speak up unless necessary and if he drinks Katsumi doesn’t see it. Kakashi-Sensei is utterly silent as well, a menacing air seems to surround him. It reminds her of the moments before a thunderstorm hits. Leaves her anticipating destruction and chaos. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they reach the border to wave country, the scent of saltwater and the sight of endless water tugs at her memory. She’s seen this before, in a different place. Somewhere its sunny and warm instead of gray. The memory escapes her now, but she knows it wasn’t this life she experienced the sea in first. She doesn’t say it out loud, but it feels a bit like coming home, the same way being under Konoha’s trees makes her feel like nothing can touch her when she stands among them. It’s a strange feeling to have for something she’s never seen in this life before. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The boat ride across the water is tense. There’s an oppressive silence hanging over the group and the mist is thick and heavy, so hard to see through. Kakashi-sensei had warned them that once they crossed into wave country they would need to be on high alert, that this is where the most danger would be found. The warning is heeded, and the genin stick to each other’s sides like glue. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has forced the image of the man she killed out of her mind. This is a mission and she can’t afford to break down in the middle of it. So she does what she always does, she keeps moving. Naruto seems to be doing the same thing, but he’s clearly struggling more, his bright blue eyes are shadowed and more than once she’s caught him staring at his hands, at his knuckles. Sasuke is the only one of the three that doesn’t look ready to snap. It’s almost funny to her, that the most prone to bouts of anger is the most stable now. How fascinating.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They arrive in Wave Country under that heavy mist. It was good cover but the lack of sight was too much of a disadvantage for the genin to be comfortable in. None of them have learned to augment their senses with Chakra yet, though Katsumi has been working on increasing her hearing in her spare time. Delicate work, and tedious on top. Increase it too much by speeding the circulation of chakra in the ears up and a person is libel damage their ear drums the first time they hear something fall to the floor, conversely, slowing the flow down too much results in temporary deafness.Katsumi is far from comfortable increasing her hearing for a mission yet. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They keep close to the bridge builder while they move, careful to keep him boxed in between them. Naruto has one hand in his Kunai pouch at all times, but that’s fine, Katsumi’s hand has been wrapped around her Wakizashi’s handle ready to pull it since they got off the boat. She can see thin lines of smoke leave Sasuke’s nostril’s with every exhale. Only Kakashi-Sensei seems relaxed, but katsumi knows from experience he’s relaxed in the way a coiled snake is relaxed. Completely at ease with his own strength and ready to strike out at any threats. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Naruto’s hand flashes out and a kunai slides smooth and quick from it, Katsumi nearly loses it. She’s doesn’t want to face another threat yet and if Naruto has identified enough of a potential one to feel comfortable throwing a kunai, she knows it’s not going to be a good time. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The cut off shriek of a rabbit follows the sound of the kunai driving home. Naruto seems startled. Like that’s not what he meant to hit and that raises the hairs on Katsumi’s arms. Naruto is the most intuitive of the team, seems to have a second sense for knowing what to do on the fly. Katsumi knows he wouldn’t have thrown a Kunai at a rabbit right now. Which means he saw or sensed something else. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei doesn’t look much happier. He’s staring hard at the rabbit, like he’s noticed something about it they haven’t. Katsumi isn’t sure what though. It’s just a white rabbit. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Pyramid formation now!” Kakashi-Sensei’s voice is sharp and brokers no arguments. Katsumi draws her wakizashi and slides around to stand in front of Tazuna. Naruto and Sasuke stand on either side and slightly behind her. Kakashi-sensei is still by the rabbit when the mist sets in. Too fast and thick to be anything natural. She’s no sensor, but she can practically taste the chakra in it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The killing intent comes next. It’s heavy and makes her heart rate jump but Katsumi just bares her teeth in a parody of a smile. Now is not the time to let scare tactics get to her. Katsumi can hear Naruto’s breath pick up and while Sasuke’s seems to stop altogether and she holds back a curse. Kakashi-sensei drilled into them the importance of holding their own against another’s killing intent. Had unleashed his on them until they hardly batted an eye. This is not the time for her boys to forget that. Kakashi-sensei was shaping them for battle. This is part of it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She knows something is about to happen. Knows whoever it is is toying with them and she hates it. Wants them to get it over with. The handle of her blade is a cold comfort in her hand as the menace keeps increasing. She forces her Chakra signature away, Tries to augment her hearing and prays she doesn’t deafen herself. It’s hard. She manages to do it though. She knows her control could slip at any time and she needs to locate the threat quickly. The problem is she’s not used to sifting through so much more noise. And the heartbeats of her boys and Tazuna are so much louder than anything else. She has to release it. It’s worthless to her right now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t need chakra augmented hearing to make out the menacing low laugh that floats through the air, though. Doesn’t need it to hear a dangerous, rough voice pointing out their vital spots.Certainly doesn’t need it to hear the sound of a sword cutting through air. She’s heard that sound a thousand times, caused it a thousand times, she couldn’t miss it for the world. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Drop!” Katsumi doesn’t think just grabs Tazuna and takes him to the ground with her. She feels the boys follows suit more than anything as a heavy blade slices through the air above them. Katsumi can just make out the sword as it swings by. The mist obscures the details but not the size. And oh, Does the sight of that blade fill her with a strange kind of excitement. Whoever they’re facing favors swords too. Kenjutsu isn’t commonly used in Konoha. She can only think of one or two other shinobi aside from herself and her father that use it. The thought of facing someone who practices it too well, Katsumi is suddenly anticipating the fight much more. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Protect the bridge builder! And stay out of this fight!” Kakashi-Sensei is suddenly right in front of them, his voice hard and sharp. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The mist is fading. The element of surprise lost. When it clears Katsumi gets a good look at the man holding the sword she saw. He’s tall and his neck and mouth are wrapped in bandages. Katsumi doesn’t like how excited he looks for this fight. Like he’s been waiting for a chance to sink his teeth into something and rip it to shreds. It’s that sword that catches her eye, though. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It is huge. Even bigger than she expected.It looks wickedly sharp. And oh, Katsumi thinks there’s very little she wouldn’t do to possess it. She knows logically, that she’d be lucky to even be able to lift a sword that huge much less wield it, but that doesn’t stop the absolute want she feels for it. Like she should own it. Like it’s already hers and she is just collecting it from someone she loaned it to. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Even as she rises with her teammates at one from where they hit the ground, her eyes don’t waver from the blade they’ve locked on. Naruto seems to know what the problem is, and he raises one hand to her and signs wait. She wants to laugh at the reminder of when she stopped him from attacking Kakashi-sensei prematurely in his excitement during the bell test. She supposes she would be tempted to try something stupid for that sword.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Momochi Zabuza, demon of the hidden mist. You look like you’ve seen better days.” Kakashi-Sensei’s voice is a smooth drawl, as if the man hadn’t just tried to slice his team into pieces. She can see the tenseness running down his back though. He doesn’t look lazy anymore, doesn’t look bored. He looks ready, like he’s just waiting for the moment to strike. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hatake Kakashi, the Copy-cat Ninja. You’re a long way from home. Why don’t you let me just kill the bridge builder and you can take your brats back home in one piece?” The man words it like he actually expects Kakashi-sensei to agree but his tone is full of the same anticipation as Kakashi-Sensei’s posture is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi can’t help the snarl that breaks through her teeth at the thought of retreat. Her lips peel back to reveal her teeth. Kakashi-Sensei twitches at the sound. Like he has to restrain himself from hiding her from this Zabuza’s sight. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She understands why when the man turns his darkly amused gaze on her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What’s this, Kakashi? You have a Sea wolf pup chasing after you? Could have sworn the Mists’ bloodline purges got rid of them all. Word of advice, there’s never been an Ishihara that isn’t willing to bite their master’s hand. Little more than rabid dogs the lot of them.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi goes still. Trying to understand what she just heard. This man knows her family name. Is talking like there were more than just her father and her. Saying things that didn’t make sense. She isn’t from the hidden mist. Has never even heard her Tou-San mention that village. Tou-San even told her they aren’t a clan. And what does he mean, bloodline purges? It doesn’t make sense and she’s so thrown off she almost makes the mistake of engaging with the nukenin. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m sure you’re confused, Zabuza,” the absolute threat in Sensei’s voice promises death if the man keeps talking, “Maybe you should pay less attention to a prepubescent girl, and more to me.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches as he raises his hitai-ate up so that his other eye is showing. She can’t see his face from this angle and she’s not sure what he’s doing that for. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zabuza doesn’t seem to appreciate the implications behind that statement. He makes an animalistic noise in his throat, like a bad parody of the snarls Katsumi makes, but his eyes gleam in excitement at the sight of Kakashi-Sensei’s raised hitai-ate. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So I get the honor of seeing the famed Hatake Kakashi’s Sharingan? I feel so special.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She feels Sasuke go stiff as a board beside her. Like he’s just been punched. Katsumi knows she’s heard that word before, but she doesn’t know what it means. Now isn’t the time for questions though. she’ll have to worry about it later. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The fight is faster paced than any spar. It’s so much more impressive than anything Katsumi can do. The ninjustu is so beyond her skill level it’s almost comical. Things go wrong when Kakashi-sensei ends up stuck in some kind of water prison. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Take Tazuna and run! Don’t try to help! That’s an order!” Kakashi-Sensei actually sounded a bit panicked. Like he thought he was about to watch them die in front of him. Katsumi just bares her teeth at the thought of leaving him. He’s her sensei, which means he’s one of hers. Katsumi doesn’t abandon her people. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto and Sasuke are of the same mind. In the eerie in sync way of theirs they move. There’s fire and clones and by the end of the rescue, Kakashi-sensei is out of the water prison and aiming a killing blow at Zabuza. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Hunter nin appearing out of no where and killing Zabuza for them is unexpected. Katsumi doesn’t like the unexpected. Especially not on a mission like this. When the hunter nin takes the body away, Katsumi likes it even less. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then Kakashi-sensei collapses from chakra exhaustion and she has more immediate concerns. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. Chapter 34</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s a long walk to Tazuna’s home, and the genin have to take turns half dragging, half carrying their sensei as they go. Kakashi-sensei is tall and skinny, but so much heavier than he looks. It takes them nearly double the time it should have to make it to the their location. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They’re greeted by the sight of a young woman who immediately tells them what room to put their sensei in and checks him over for any injuries. Doesn’t stop until she’s satisfied, even after they tell her it’s only chakra exhaustion. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her name is Tsunami. Katsumi thinks it’s a very strong name for such a delicate looking civilian. The kind of name given to someone who needs to be strong, stronger than they are. Katsumi thinks it suits her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With little else to do but wait, they send Naruto out to set traps around the house. Nasty, quiet ones that choke and slice instead of explode. Wouldn’t want to scare the civilians, after all. Sasuke sits guard on the roof of the little house, crouched like a gargoyle at the center of it. Katsumi stands guard over their unconscious sensei. Ready to put herself between him and Tsunami if he wakes suddenly and lashes out. She knows from growing up around Tou-San that some shinobi don’t react well to waking up in strange places. Katsumi doesn’t want her sensei accidentally killing their client’s daughter. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It never occurs to her that in his confusion he could kill her instead. It’s a childish thing, naive in the worst way, but she trusts her sensei implicitly. If she didn’t, she would have returned to Konoha the minute he gave her the choice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto returns, looking entirely too pleased with himself and brings Sasuke down from the roof so the three can plan. Until Kakashi-sensei wakes up, they’re on their own. At least One of them needs to be with Tazuna at all times, another needs to be guarding the house. Katsumi is distracted though. She’s still thinking about that sword. She wants it more than she can remember wanting anything before. She doesn’t particularly care how she gets it either. One way or another, she is leaving Wave Country with that sword in her hands. They’ll have to pry it from her cold, dead hands to get it back once she has it.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Maybe that’s why she suggests she goes scouting. She has the stealth training to do it, she can augment her hearing, even if she can’t use it well yet. She thinks it’s logical. They need to know more about the situation here. Tazuna mentioned a tyrant businessman named Gato. Mentioned how choked and starving Wave is. Katsumi trusts his story, but he lied once, she needs more intel than the word of a proven liar. It’s how she justifies it at least. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke grinds his teeth and glares at her. He doesn’t need to say a word to let her know he doesn’t like the idea. Doesn’t want to separate the team more than absolutely necessary. Naruto doesn’t like it much either, but he trusts her, knows she’s careful, knows she won’t do anything too risky. He also knows she’s right, they need information and she’s best equipped to find it. He agrees with the stipulation she’s back before sunrise. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Roughly eleven hours to hunt then. Katsumi grins a feral grin as she walks out of the small house. She can work with that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She finds the village first. It’s a sad, run down place. Everyone looks exhausted and hungry, cheeks are sunken in and eyes are dull and lifeless. It’s a depressing, sharp contrast to Konoha. She can see street children sitting listless in the alleys, and old men wearing threadbare clothes that do nothing to protect them from the cold, wet air. She doesn’t see any signs of this Gato person’s thugs, though. She needs to find out where they are. Their mission won’t be completed unless all threats to the bridge builder’s life are nullified. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s completely dark by the time she finds what she’s looking for. It’s an ugly building. Little more than a glorified warehouse. Katsumi creeps through the branches of the trees surrounding it slow and smooth as she can, chakra signature entirely suppressed. She has no idea if any of Gato’s thugs are shinobi, no idea if any would sense her chakra if they were. She doesn’t want to find out. She promised Naruto she’d come back before dawn. She doesn’t intend to break it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi crouches low on the branch she chose, pressing tight against the trunk of the tree. She watches intently. Counting windows and doors she can see from her position. Looking for weak spots in the security. She can see two guards at the gates of the compound, two more at the front doors of the building. She’s willing to bet her entire savings there’s another dooron the opposite side of the building with more guards. There’s even guards stationed on the roof. So there’s a roof entrance somewhere too. From what she can make out in the low light, none of the guards are shinobi. Gato likes cheap labor it seems. And shinobi don’t come cheaply. If Zabuza is really dead, Gato may not want to waste money paying another shinobi. Katsumi idly wonders if the hunter nin kept the sword. She’s going to be put out if it’s out of her reach. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She waits until she’s seen the guard rotation happen twice, before she moves to leave. Katsumi is satisfied she has a good grasp of the security around the building. Hopefully Kakashi-sensei is pleased with what they did while he was recovering. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She only makes it a few steps when a lone figure appears in front of her. Katsumi has to grab onto a branch to slow her momentum enough to avoid flying into the figure. She can feel her heart beat steadily rising. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s a long moment where the two observe each other. It’s a girl, katsumi thinks, or maybe a boy, it’s too ambiguous to tell properly, they’re in a feminine looking kimono but that doesn’t mean much. She can see long dark hair too. It shines in what little moonlight there is. She can’t see any weapons, but Katsumi is a Kunoichi, and she knows how easy it is to hide such things in pretty clothes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s not safe in these woods at night, girl, what could be so interesting that you chose to come here?” The figure’s voice is soft, sounds almost concerned, almost friendly, meant to put her at ease. Katsumi is instantly wary. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just exploring.” It’s not a lie, not really. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Children shouldn’t explore alone, especially at night. There’s far too much that could go wrong.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m not alone. My guardian isn’t far.” A complete and utter lie, Sensei is no where near her, and even if he was, he’s of no use right now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh? That’s good to hear, I was worried for you.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi realizes that during the conversation they’ve been slowly circling each other through the trees. Had practically traded sides. Her path to safety is clear now, but it means turning her back on this person. She doesn’t think she can afford that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Were you? How kind of you to show such concern for a stranger.” Katsumi swallows, hoping whoever this person is doesn’t decide she needs to be neutralized. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What’s your name, child? I don’t think I’ve seen you around the village before.” Alarm bells are ringing in her head. Whoever this person is, they can’t be trusted. So she lies and prays they don’t call her on it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hana. My name is Hana.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No family name?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, Hana, you can call me Haku. You should run home now, though. I hope if we meet again it’s under better circumstances.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi takes one step back, then another not taking her eyes of the person. Off Haku. Ambiguous name, she wonders if it’s a lie too. When Haku makes no move to stop her, she turns and bolts. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She moves like Kakashi-Sensei’s hounds are nipping at her feet. She’s certain at any moment she’s going to get a kunai to the back. It’s a relief when she returns to the house. It’s Naruto whose sitting on the roof now, whittling a stick with a kunai, eyes watching the darkness. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s never been more relieved to see him. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Chapter 35</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei is not pleased with her when he wakes up and learns of her scouting trip. He scolds her harshly, tells her she could have been killed, captured, raped. Tells her it was an ill conceived plan. Tells her things she already knows. Things she accepted the possibility of when she did it. Katsumi appreciates the concern though. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he tells them Zabuza is alive and that hunter nin was working with him, Katsumi pipes up about the person who caught her spying on Gato’s warehouse-compound thing. Kakashi-Sensei looks like he wants to throttle her, but listens closely to her description, bad as it is, she couldn’t make out any defining features on them except for their hair and clothes, and black hair is too common a hair color for it to really matter. She doesn’t mention the name she was given though. Doesn’t see much of a point, it was probably an alias. Just another lie. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke looks murderous and even Naruto looks like he’s one step off from violence, she knew telling them what happened would anger them, worry them, but she wasn’t expecting the minor killing intent that leaked off them. She thinks it’s the first time either of them have really displayed it. Even when they killed those Nukenin Naruto wasn’t giving it off. Sasuke either, she thinks. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei’s voice is tight when he continues speaking.Says it’s safe to assume that the hunter-nin and the person Katsumi met are one and the same. Warns them they have maybe a week before Zabuza tries to kill the bridge builder again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi knows she should feel apprehensive about that. One week to prepare three genin to face a monster like him doesn’t seem like much, especially since he has a partner. Instead, she feels anticipation and excitement bubble up in her chest. She wonders if her tou-san feels this way on his missions. Like the promise of a fight is something to look forward to. Like having the time to prepare beforehand is a gift from Kami. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As soon as Kakashi-sensei can walk with crutches, he marches them out to the beach near the house, has Naruto leave a clone at Tazuna’s house. He stops just short of where the shore and ocean meet and Katsumi’s lungs are filled with salty air. It makes something in her relax. Like she was holding tension in a muscle she didn’t know she had. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re going to learn to walk on water today. This is the next step after tree walking. Normally I would have you start on a stagnant pond, but this will have to do. Watch carefully.” With that Kakashi-Sensei turns and walks out about twenty meter onto the water as if it’s nothing, and walks back.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This will be harder than tree-walking, you have to move you’re chakra with the Water’s movement. Constantly adjusting for it. Don’t be frustrated if you don’t get it today.” He eye smiles at them and takes a seat on one of the sea soaked boulders by them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi isn’t worried about this at all. She’s never been afraid of water, tou-San had made her learn to swim at the same time she was learning to walk. Drowning doesn’t even register on her list of fears. Not like falling out of a tree does. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She grins at the feel of cold saltwater hitting her feet. It’s a wonderful feeling, one she thinks she must have loved a life time ago. She channels her chakra and tries to match it to the water’s many movements. It comes easy as breathing, like her chakra wants to do this. Like it’s been waiting for her to step onto the ocean. Before she can stop herself she’s moving over the water laughing wildly as she lets the waves move her side to side. It’s so much easier than tree climbing was. So much better. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s no struggle to find just the right amount of chakra to stick to a tree, no disorientation of walking straight up a tree parallel to the ground, no constant fear of missing a branch and falling. It’s just movement matching movement. One current meeting another. She feels like she could do it forever. She may feel safe under the familiar branches of Konoha’s trees, but here on the ocean she feels free. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi-Chan! Time to come back to the shore! We can’t play in the water all day!” Kakashi-Sensei’s voice is dripping with amusement as he calls out to her. When she turns she can see the boys standing beside him, dripping wet. She wonders why they seem annoyed. Can’t understand why it looks like they struggled. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s still grinning when she makes it back to dry land, full of Childish pleasure at the simple fun of running over the ocean’s waves. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That was awesome sensei! What else can we learn?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He eye smiles at her and ruffles her hair, “that’s enough training for today, we need to discuss how we’re going to keep Tazuna and his family safe.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They walk back together, Sensei reading his book, Katsumi practically skipping along beside him, and Naruto and Sasuke dripping water and grumbling good-naturedly that maybe she should live here since she likes it so much. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Once the boys are dried off, Kakashi-Sensei sits them down in his room and looks them each over. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Until I’m back on my feet, two of you are going to have to guard Tazuna at all times. Everyday one of you will go to the bridge before Tazuna means to arrive and make sure it’s secure. One of you travel with him at all times, finally one of you will stay here and keep an eye on his family. We can’t afford to let anything happen to any of them.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Kakashi-Sensei, what about what Katsumi-Chan found?” Naruto’s eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do about that now, it’s good information but we can’t act against Gato right now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi narrows her eyes. It’s a diplomatic way of saying her scouting was useless. Katsumi doesn’t like it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Every day we will rotate which of you three will do what. Naruto will go first tomorrow, Sasuke will stay with Tazuna, Katsumi stays here. Understand?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The genin nod as one. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, and Katsumi-Chan? It was good information, and if i wasn’t hurt or you three were more experienced we’d be acting on it. I’m proud of you. Just don’t do it without permission again, okay my cute little student?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hai, Sensei.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi goes to leave when she sees Sasuke staring hard at Kakashi-Sensei, like he’s trying to pick apart the man’s soul. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He ignores her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why do you have the Sharingan? You’re not an Uchiha!” He spits his question out at Kakashi-sensei. Katsumi recognizes a Sasuke tantrum when she sees one and moves out of the line of fire. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei doesn’t look impressed with Sasuke’s anger. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“A dying friend gifted it to me. I assure you I had your clan’s consent to keep it.” Kakashi-Sensei’s voice is carefully controlled, devoid of anything that might tell them what he’s thinking. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hn.” Sasuke looks away in anger but doesn’t leave. His anger management seems to be improving. If only by degrees. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What did Zabuza mean? Bloodline purges? What did he mean I was from a clan? It sounds like he thinks I’m Kiri.” It’s something that’s been haunting Katsumi since she’s heard it. She needs to know. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">An eye smile, clear false cheerfulness. “You know, Katsumi-Chan, I’m not really sure.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has to resist snarling. She’s so sick of lies. This mission is full of them. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Chapter 36</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s over breakfast a few days after Kakashi-Sensei lies to her, that Tsunami’s little son finally has enough of them. She’s not sure what happened or what was said to cause the outburst, too busy thinking about Zabuza’s sword and the strange things he said when he saw her. The boy is screaming at them, angry and tearful, telling them they’re just going to die. That they can’t win. Can’t complete the mission. It makes Katsumi snarl and snap her teeth in his direction for the assumption they’re too weak to do it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto ends up yelling at the boy. About how he’s going to prove heroes can win, about how he never goes back on his word, about how he’s going to be hokage. It’s a nice speech but Katsumi isn’t listening. The idea that they could fail doesn’t sit well with her. It makes her want to go to that warehouse and pick a fight with everyone there. Makes her feel like a gauntlet has been thrown down. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Naruto storms out to go practice water walking, at least that’s what he said he was doing, it leaves a long awkward silence in the little kitchen. It also leaves them with a dilemma. Kakashi-Sensei isn’t well enough to go anywhere yet, isn’t up to fighting standard yet, nearly there but not quite. He needs one more day before he can do anything, he says. Katsumi thinks he’s just being lazy. They need two people with Tazuna and one at the house. With Naruto running off, they have to decide which is more important. The woman and child or the bridge builder. Ultimately Kakashi-sensei sends them with the bridge builder. Sasuke going ahead to secure the site, and Katsumi staying with Tazuna. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s a long day. There’s nothing to do except watch the carpenters work. Katsumi passes the time by sharpening her swords and reapplying the poison. Sasuke looks frustrated. It’s clear he’s itching for something to do, but hours pass and nothing happens and eventually it’s time to walk the old man back. They walk in a single file line, guarding his back and front. When they arrive Naruto is still gone and the kid, Inari, she thinks he’s called, is sulking on the step outside the house. Katsumi hardly spares him a glance, still irritated at his assumption of their weakness. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto doesn’t come back until it’s nearly night fall and he’s buzzing with excitement to tell them about the girl he met. Tells them she’s so pretty and how nice she was and how she had been gathering herbs when she spotted him trying to water walk. Katsumi is amused at first until he starts describing her in detail. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Long, pretty black hair. A soft voice. A pretty, light colored kimono. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi stares at him in disbelief. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Did you catch her name?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ahh, I forgot to ask! I’ll have to find out next time I see her, Dattebayo!” Naruto doesn’t notice Katsumi’s unblinking stare. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For the second time, Haku had let one of them live. Katsumi can’t understand it. They are enemies and instead of cutting them down, Haku didn’t even draw a weapon on them. It makes things feel more complicated than they are. It’s confusing and makes her head hurt trying to understand. Makes her want to look for Haku and demand an explanation. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She has no idea she’s about to get her wish. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s her turn to secure the bridge first and she leaves an hour before Tazuna and Sasuke. Since Naruto shirked his duties the day before, Kakashi is making him guard the house instead of going to the bridge like he was originally going to. Kakashi-sensei is mostly healed and already assured her he would be coming to the bridge with Sasuke and Tazuna today. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she arrives the other carpenters are already there preparing their tools and supplies for the workday ahead of them. They nod at her as she paces the bridge. Things are as quiet as they were the day before. The clouds are heavy with rain, though it hasn’t begun to rain yet, and already the waves of the sea are sloshing harshly against the bridge’s supports. It’s dreary and cold and so very boring. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s bored enough to try water walking on the rough waves. She jumps from the side of the bridge and lands with only the smallest of splashes. The water moves angrily around her and she finds it just a bit harder to stay on course as she walks under the bridge, double checking that nothing was amiss. She feels as restless as the waves are. Like she needs to spar with Sasuke on one of his bad days. The days where it seems like he genuinely wants to hurt her. Where it seems like he hates the entire world and just wants it to suffer alongside him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hello Hana, please don’t fight me.” Suddenly there’s a soft, almost regretful voice in her ear and a senbon needle pressed against her neck. So that’s the weapon Haku used. Precision and speed. That’s how Haku fights. It’s good to know. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Haku.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I wish we could have met each other again under different conditions, but I’m afraid this is necessary.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Are you going to kill me?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s a long silence and suddenly she’s being moved so fast she can’t breathe for a moment. When they stop, they’re standing on the end of the bridge. Katsumi’s blood runs cold when she sees Zabuza standing in front of them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He looks very nearly healed too. For once, Katsumi’s gaze isn’t fixated on the sword though. It’s fixated on him. She needs to get loose, needs to get Sensei. Needs to warn someone. But Haku is much stronger than they look and the senbon is pressed directly against her jugular vein. Katsumi settles for growling in frustration. She has never felt so useless. It’s a degrading feeling. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh shut up brat. And pay close attention you may learn something useful.” There’s a dark menace in his voice and Katsumi is certain she’s going to be killed and left to rot in the ocean below them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She watches him intently, despite her near panic. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">She watches him make the handseals. Ox. Snake. Ram. Slower than she remembers him going when he fought Kakashi-sensei. Like he wants her to remember them. Wants her to </span> <em><span class="s2">know.</span></em></p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Suiton style: hiding in the mist technique,” his rough voice is calm and clear, like he’s Akihiro-Sensei teaching the class something new. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches in muted fascination as mist forms thick and fast over the bridge. So, she thinks, this is how he does it. She wants to know why he’s showing her this. Why he doesn’t just kill her and be done with it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t realize she said it out loud until he barks a cold, cruel laugh. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re a Kiri brat, doesn’t matter you don’t wear their hitai-ate. Damn shame if a Kiri brat doesn’t know this trick.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It doesn’t make sense. None of this does. Katsumi doesn’t understand anything. They are enemies. He’s not supposed to be teaching her anything. They’re supposed to be fighting. She’s supposed to be dead. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Haku. Put the workers down.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes, Zabuza.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The needle against her neck is gone, but Katsumi is still frozen in place. Staring at the giant man and his giant sword. She can hear the screams and cut of shouts of the workers. Knows she should be trying to stop it. Knows she should do something, but she can’t move. Can’t think of anything but the mess going on in her head. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m Konoha .” She says it stupidly. Says it like a challenge, says it like she’s suicidal. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ishiharas have never been forest creatures, brat. Don’t know who taught you otherwise, you got too much saltwater in your veins for that.” His voice is no kinder than it was before, but it almost sounds wistful. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then he grins, sharp and predatory, and swings the sword at her. It comes to a stop a hairsbreadth away from her neck and this time Katsumi bares her teeth at him. She can barely make him out through the mist but she knows he sees her teeth. If he’s going to toy with her, she’s not going to be anything less than feral. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I saw the way you looked at Kubikiribōchō. You got a long way to go before you’re capable of wielding this sword, brat. If you don’t die first, come find me in a few years and we’ll see if you can handle it then.” The sword moves away from her neck.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Now run along, little girl, go hide with your treehuggers before I change my mind about feeding your blood to my blade.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi bolts. She has to warn Kakashi-Sensei. Needs him to know not to bring Tazuna to the bridge. She never notices that despite running blind through the heavy mist, she never misses a step or gets confused. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Chapter 37</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi runs straight into Kakashi-Sensei’s chest. He catches her by the shoulders and shakes her slightly to stop the panicked babbling that falls rapid speed from her lips. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi! Calm down! What happened?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi turns back to the bridge, and gestures at the think mist hanging over it, thick mist that sensei and Sasuke and Tazuna are now in. All because she was too late to warn them away and now they’re already on the bridge with her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Zabuza and Haku are here! I think they killed the workers and I couldn’t do anything and they’re going to Kill Tazuna.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t mention the strange lesson from Zabuza. Doesn’t mention he chose to spare her. The fact she’s not dying on the bridge with the workers is probably indication enough of that. Katsumi still doesn’t understand the strange mercy she was granted. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei nods once, completely serious. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi and Sasuke, protect Tazuna! I’ll deal with Zabuza.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi draws her Wakizashi and falls into place beside Sasuke, the Katana rests heavy against her back but she doesn’t draw it, not yet. He looks like he’s desperate to go rushing into the fight, but he stays beside her. Katsumi can hear Tazuna’s breathing quicken in fear. If he panics and runs, Katsumi may kill him herself. She has no desire to chase a civilian through the mists. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei stands in front of them, kunai in hand, and nose tilted up like his hounds. She has no idea if his sense of smell if as good as theirs, but from the way he’s sniffing the air she would hazard a yes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is listening intently. She’s managed to augment her hearing again, this time only made it a bit stronger than normal. Kakashi-Sensei’s heart beat and breath are steady as ever, like it’s a Normal day for him. She’s not listening for him though. She needs to know where Haku is. They’re the quiet one. She’s already attuned to the cut of Zabuza’s blade through air and knows she can dodge it in time. Haku is the one she can’t hear. The one who manages to sneak up on her consistently. The one who doesn’t seems to want to kill any of them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Haku doesn’t come. It’s the singing of a blade cutting air that she hears first. Again. Either Zabuza changed his mind about killing her or he realized she can dodge the huge blade. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Just like last time, she yanks Tazuna to the ground with her, snarling at Sasuke to drop too. Thankfully he does. She can feel the blade cut some of her ponytail off. Knows loosing a few inches of hair is the least that could have happened. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei is at their sides instantly. Grabbing Tazuna and Katsumi and practically throwing them away from Zabuza. Then launches Sasuke their way too. He miscalculates the hasty toss though in a rare reminder that he isn’t perfect. Sasuke vanishes into the mist far to her left. Katsumi can hear the thud of his body hitting the bridge and the air leave his lungs in one huge gust. Knows he didn’t land on his feet. Probably couldn’t see well enough to orientate himself properly. She also knows he won’t be able to find his way back to her. She doesn’t dare call out to him. Drawing attention to her location would risk Tazuna’s life. She knows she’s betting on Haku‘s apparent reluctance to kill them. Knows that could change at any moment, but she thinks as long as Zabuza is occupied with Kakashi-Sensei that Sasuke won’t be at risk of dying. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Even through the mist, she can see the massive broadsword on the man’s back. Waits for it to be drawn again. It’s not though, she can just make out Kakashi moving to reveal his Sharingan when Zabuza decides to use a kunai to try to blind her sensei. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can’t help the furious snarl at the threat to her Sensei’s safety. She doesn’t want to be guarding the old man. She wants to be helping Kakashi-Sensei. Wants to be fighting. Wants to see how she measures up In a kenjutsu fight with the nukenin. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hears the moment Haku engages Sasuke. Can hear the clash of metal meeting metal and feels a moment of relief. She knows Haku is fast, faster than she’s ever been, but Sasuke is too. If anyone can keep up it’s him. She can hear him trash talking the senbon user and wants to snap at him to focus. Talking midbattle is only a waste of precious oxygen. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can almost feel the moment things change for Sasuke. Even through the thick mist she can just make out a strange looking structure, apparently made of mirrors, can feel the temperature of the air drop further. Whatever that is, it’s not a normal jutsu. Whatever it is, she knows Sasuke has been caught in it. She prays to Kami, that Haku hasn’t decided to finally kill one of them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can’t hear anything inside the structure. Like it’s sound proofed against unwanted listeners. It sets her teeth on edge and Katsumi can feel that wild, dark part of her come alive at her frustration. Can feel the urge to draw blood, any blood bubble up in her. Almost wishes Zabuza takes another strike at her so she can give one back to him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She gets her wish. This time he brings the sword down from above their heads and she has to push the bridge builder aside as she tries to avoid getting cut in two. She lets loose a feral snarl and spins around. Does her best to land a hit in the man. He blocks her Wakizashi with the flat of his blade. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zabuza’s dark eyes gleam in the grey dull light the mist let’s through, and laughs at her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Try harder, Sea wolf, if you want to kill me.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sea wolf. There’s that phrase again. Said the same way Genma said her mother was a nightmare years ago. An almost compliment. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She flashes her teeth and drops low, spinning for momentum and aims to cut his legs off at the ankles. He’s just close enough to be in range. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He doesn’t even block her, just steps back and bares his teeth back at her before disappearing back into the mist. Turns his attention back to the threat that is Kakashi-Sensei. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She gets the feeling that Zabuza isn’t really that invested in the fight, isn’t really taking it seriously. Like it’s a game to him or like he doesn’t really care about completing the contract. She’s almost certain he would have killed her if he was. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Naruto arrives, yelling his presence to the whole world, Katsumi has to close her eyes and pray for patience. Of course her idiot would think announcing himself to a battle was a good idea. No subtlety in him at all. Just like that stupid orange jumpsuit. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she hears his heartbeat vanish into Haku’s mirrors, Katsumi wants to shriek in rage. Now both her boys are stuck in a frozen prison and she’s guarding an old drunk while trying not to get sliced into little bits. She can hear Zabuza’s blade slicing through the air, can hear his heartbeat dancing around Kakashi-Sensei’s as they fight. It’s fast paced and brutal and goes on for far far longer than a single fight should take. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then she hears the familiar baying of Kakashi-Sensei’s summons. Knows the Battle is at an end. Whatever happens now, they have won. Kakashi-Sensei is finished playing Zabuza’s game. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s at the same time that’s happening, that Katsumi feels the most malevolent energy she’s ever felt fill the air. It’s pouring out of Haku’s ice mirrors like a some kind of dam has broken. She hears more than sees the ice mirrors shatter. It’s loud and screeching and a cacophony of breaking glass. She can hear Naruto, he’s yelling, snarling is a way that makes her grows seem like a weak joke. Like compared to him, she’s little more than a kitten. Katsumi can’t believe it’s Naruto that sound is coming from. Can’t believe it’s Naruto that malevolence is pouring from. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Whatever happened to cause that, Katsumi dreads knowing. Because she can’t hear Sasuke still. No sarcastic comments, no weapons flying can’t see balls of Fire blazing. No heartbeat. No. There’s no way that’s right. Haku didn’t kill her when they should have, didn’t kill Naruto when they could have. Sasuke isn’t supposed to be dead. Katsumi increases her hearing, desperate for some sign of life. She doesn’t find it. She can feel herself shaking, refuses to cry. This is a mission. Crying has its time, but it’s not now. She tucks away that grief in the same corner of her mind she shoved her guilt over killing. When this is over she can break down. Not a moment before. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t notice when her growls increase in intensity to nearly match Naruto’s. Doesn’t notice that mid fight Kakashi-sensei actually shoots her a warning look. Doesn’t notice when the Zabuza Kakashi-Sensei is fighting, is about to drive through with some kind of screaming, bright jutsu held in the palm of his hand, turns out to be a water clone. Doesn’t notice the mist lifting finally. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She does notice when Zabuza tries to take her hostage again. Tries to press a kunai to her neck. She does notice that. And she looses it. Doesn’t even remember she has a sword. Let’s it drop to the ground. She’s on the man like a wild dog. Tries to bury her teeth in his neck. Actually manages to grab the hilt of the damn sword of his to drag herself up to his height. Snarling and shrieking like a wild animal the whole time. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can hear Kakashi-Sensei’s panicked shout. Doesn’t care. She can hear Zabuza’s surprised, dark laughter. Doesn’t care. Can hear Naruto’s shocked exclamations. Doesn’t care. Can hear Haku’s soft voice. Doesn’t care. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zabuza drags her off him like it’s nothing, holds her struggling furious form by the back of her shirt. Not unlike the way a cat carries a kitten. She can see the blood on his shoulder, can feel it on her lips, taste it on her tongue. She must look unhinged. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t care though, Sasuke is dead. Her teammate. Her angry, sarcastic, serious teammate is dead. One of her people is dead. She won’t calm down until Haku’s lost his person too. She understands now, Naruto’s overwhelming malice earlier. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He shakes her once, hard, like she’s a misbehaving puppy. It makes her teeth click harshly together. She feels herself bite her tongue on accident. Feels the blood well up in her mouth and, in a moment of spiteful pettiness, spits the blood at Zabuza’s face. It’s gratifying to watch it splatter across the bandages that wrap around his neck and lower face loosely.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Told you Ishihara’s are rabid, Hatake. Maybe I should do you a favor and put this one down for you.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei’s voice is hard and Ice cold, “let her go Zabuza, if you want to have any chance of leaving here alive.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A new voice cuts in, one she’s never heard before. It’s oily and arrogant and sounds no one she’d ever like to know. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I have to say, Zabuza, when I agreed to pay you such a high fee, I expected better. I don’t think you’ve earned your payment.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zabuza’seyes seem to turn black with rage as they cut to whoever behind her is speaking. Doesn’t set her down though. Like he knows she’ll just attack him again if he does. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well Hatake, it seems we’re no longer on opposite sides of a contract. Your bridge builder is safe from me.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei is watching him dangerously. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You still killed one of my genin and your holding another one. I’m not sure I’m feeling inclined to letting you live.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Haku doesn’t kill kids. Remove the needles from the brat’s neck. He’ll be fine.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And Katsumi?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Look at her, Hatake, she’s in a blind rage, half mad with bloodlust. Let me borrow her to deal with these idiots, and you can have her back. Ishiharas need an outlet occasionally. Or do you leafnin not know that?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Borrow her?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei sounds furious. Katsumi is still raging but now it’s a rage without a purpose. Sasuke is apparently alive and Zabuza isn’t trying to kill them anymore. Katsumi has no idea what to do with her fury now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She’s not going to calm down on her own, Hatake, she needs blood like Kubikiribōchō does. Won’t be manageable until then.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zabuza adjusts his grip on her shirt and swings her around to face everyone else. She can see Naruto by Sasuke’s body, pulling needles out. Can see Tazuna on the ground. Can see Kakashi-Sensei standing tense as ninja wire by them, Sharingan blazing. Haku is standing nearby too. Holding Katsumi’s Wakizashi in hand and smiling that soft pleasant smile, though they look like Naruto got a few solid hits in. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s what’s blocking their exit from the bridge that catches her attention. A short man in a suit is standing there bold as brass with at least fifty civilian thugs behind him. So, she thinks detachedly, that’s Gato. A bit of a let down really. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey brat, I’m going to set you down. You’re not going to attack me or Haku. Got it?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she doesn’t respond he shakes her again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Got it?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hisses a yes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He sets her down but keeps his hold on her shirt collar. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Haku give her her toothpick back. brat, no stabbing anyone.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Haku approaches her slowly, like they’re trying not to startle her and slides the Wakizashi into its sheath for her. Once that’s done, Haku smiles and backs away. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Focus brat. You see those idiots? I’m expecting you to help end them. You want to help though, you’re going to have to do that trick I showed you earlier.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She sees Kakashi stiffen when he hears that. She doesn’t care though. Her rage has been given a new target, one she is assured to have, so long as she brings the mist down the way Zabuza does. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She obeys. Ox. Snake. Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She remembers the feel of chakra spreading out into the air, and makes hers do that too. When she says the techniques name, she yanks her chakra down hard and fast, pulling water from the air as it goes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s not as thick or as fast as Zabuza’s but it’s more than enough to blind a civilian. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He lets her shirt go. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well brat? What are you waiting for? This is proper hunting conditions.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Zabuza, if she gets hurt, I’ll kill you.” Kakashi-Sensei’s voice is soft and lethal but other than that that he makes no move to intercede. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She feels Zabuza shove her forwards. Knows she’s allowed to attack now. Knows no one is going to stop her from taking her pound of flesh. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She slides her katana out this time. Tests it’s weight and moves. She can hear Zabuza’s vicious laughter, can feel Haku moving silently around her in the grey nothingness of her mist. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s hunting blind. Dodging Zabuza’s sword like she’s done it her whole life while mindless tearing into the targets. Stabs one in the stomach, slices through another’s arm. Blood is heavy in the air and Feels sticky on her skin and she keeps going. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Careful, Katsumi-chan, you missed one,” Haku’s voice is soft and chiding in her ear and they flick a senbon needle at one man. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Katsumi drops low and takes the right foot off another man, Haku’s voice pipes up again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s not polite to leave your prey alive, child.” Still chiding, but teasingly. Like it’s funny. Like it’s a game. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Blades poisoned. He’ll bleed out quick enough.” Katsumi grunts it out as she dodges a club coming down from above and slides her sword into the man’s gut. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Before she can blink she’s out of targets. Out of rage. Out of everything. Feels spent and numb in a way she’s never felt before. Just wants to curl up and nap for a few days. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Haku leads her out of the mist, Kakashi-sensei stares at her like he’s a stranger. Naruto visibly blanches from where he’s supporting a barely conscious Sasuke. Tazuna looks green. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hatake! You got a real monster on your hands! You ruin her and I’ll be fucking pissed.” Zabuza’s voice cuts through the silence as he steps out of the mist. She realizes distantly she has no idea how to cancel the jutsu. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is dazed and she stumbles more than walks to her sensei, holds onto his flak jacket to ground herself and just stares at the nukenin she just killed with. She wonders if T&amp;I will have pick her apart now. She hopes not. Ino’s dad works there and she thinks he’d be displeased to see her. Not to mention Anko-San. She’d kill Katsumi. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Zabuza is bloody too, but Haku didn’t get a drop of blood on themself. Both look immensely satisfied. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There a long silence as the two groups look at each other. When the sky finally breaks open and rains, Zabuza moves first.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Haku we’re leaving. Been fun, Hatake but we got places to be. Brat, remember what I told you about this sword.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches them walk away too exhausted to say anything back. Kakashi ruffles her hair with one hand. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, Katsumi-chan lets go check on the boys, yes? And while we do you can tell me when exactly Zabuza taught you that technique.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is so doomed. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Chapter 38</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Just a quick filler chapter after the monster that was the last one!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They stay in Wave country until the bridge is complete. Tazuna and his family keep a polite distance from Katsumi for that time, like she’s going to snap and turn on them. Katsumi doesn’t mind. Her people are safe and they don’t treat her like she’s a monster, don’t act like she’s a paper bomb primed to go off at any moment. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei sits them all down again and has them tell him what happened to them on the bridge. The genin are huddled together, shoulders pressed up against each other. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke starts first, tells them about Haku’s initial attack. How he landed one hit before Haku formed the strange ice mirrors. Naruto butts in at this point and tells them how one of his traps got set off and killed two attackers near the house, tells them he ran to help Sasuke when he saw he was stuck. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Together the two weave a story about needles flying through the air, about Sasuke activating his Sharingan for the first time and subsequently getting knocked out (temporarily killed?) by Haku. Naruto apparently got so mad he was able to break through the Jutsu. He doesn’t explain how, though, or what that awful energy she felt was. Kakashi-sensei doesn’t seem to mind that he glosses over the how part, though, so Katsumi lets it go. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they get to her, Kakashi-sensei looks troubled. As she explains how Haku caught her and how Zabuza showed her how to make mists and told her to find him in a few years, the troubled look only increases. He makes them swear not to mention to anyone what happened between Katsumi and the nukenins. Makes them promise to leave it out of the mission report. Tells them Katsumi could get blacklisted from any future promotions and labeled a flight risk if they do. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t like that. Can’t imagine abandoning her home. But she thinks of what Zabuza said. That she’s not made for the forests. Too much saltwater in her blood. She thinks of how easy it was to move in the mists, how free running over open ocean makes her feel. How conjuring up mist had felt so right. Thinks of how he called her Kiri. She can understand the concern. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then she thinks of Konoha. Of Shikamaru and shogi. Of playing ninja tag through the tree branches once the team got the hang of it. Thinks of how easy it is for her to hunt through the thick undergrowth that covers the forest floor. Thinks of her mother, who unlike her father apparently, was Konoha born and bred. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She pictures Konoha in the early hours of the morning during autumn, pictures how the fog hangs over the forest then. Pictures the mist that sometimes forms after one of the heavy summer storms has ended. And thinks, mist looks just the same, wherever it forms. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has her father’s blood, that’s true. Has sea water in her veins, has sharp teeth that makes smiles look like a threat. But she also has her mother’s blood, has her eyes, green and pale, like the leaves on some of the trees and that’s just as true. Just as important. The freedom she feels on the water doesn’t negate the feeling of home she has when she thinks of Konoha. Doesn’t compare really. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She thinks, she won’t seek Zabuza out, but if she stumbles upon him at some point in the future, on a different mission and a different day, she’ll see if she can’t learn another trick. Can’t earn herself that sword. And if she does, he won’t be dealing with a lost Kiri brat, he’ll be dealing with a Konoha Kunoichi who knows exactly what’s important to her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally, finally the bridge is finished and named (after Naruto apparently) and they get to return home. The trip home is easier, quicker. With no civilian to slow them down, they can run through the tree branches, quick and light. No need to pause for long. It takes maybe half the time it took to get to Wave Country. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has never been so glad to see her home. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Chapter 39</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi finds her father napping on the couch when she gets home after the mission. Stares at his sleeping form for a long, long time. Then calmly walks to her room and puts her things away, calmly walks to the little bathroom their home has and runs the shower on the hottest setting and climbs in. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She lets the water wash over her. Stands under it and lets it wash the dirt and grime from her. Stands there until it runs cold and tries to imagine it washing off the blood. She can’t. Even though it’s not visible, she knows her hands are stained red now. Knows all the showers in the world won’t cleanse that. Finally she allows herself to cry. She ends up sitting on the shower tiles sobbing into her knees. She cries for the death of the missing nin she killed, for the countless civilian thugs she slaughtered. For Naruto having to kill the other missing nin. For Sasuke’s near death. For the fact it will happen again. For the fact that she doesn’t regret it. For the fact she’d do it again in a second if it were necessary. She doesn’t make a sound as she cries though. Won’t let herself weep and wail and scream the way she wants to. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally when her tears have run dry she turns the shower off and redresses. When she runs her hand through her hair she can feel the inches missing from Zabuza’s sword slicing through it. Where it used to fall to her waist it barely brushes her shoulder blades now. It feels lighter, feels strange, feels wrong. At least this is something she can fix. It will grow back. In time, it will look like it was never cut in the first place. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she walks back out, Tou-San is still asleep. She stares at him again. Thinks of all the things he never told her. Things she had to learn from a goddamn missing nin. Thinks of how he lied and told her they weren’t clan. Thinks of how he hid her history from her. And she’s furious. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“<em>Wake up</em>!” She shrieks it. She has never raised her voice at Tou-San before. At anyone before really. Not like this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She watches him shoot to his feet, kunai in hand and eyes searching the room for a threat that isn’t there. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi? Wha-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Kiri! Why didn’t you tell me about Kiri? About the bloodline purges? How we had a clan? How you aren’t from Konoha? You lied! You told me we weren’t clan! You lied to me! Why did I have to find out from a <em>fucking</em> Nukenin?!” Katsumi is furious. She’s hurt and she doesn’t understand why Tou-San would lie to her about something so important. Something that affects her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’s silent and staring down at her in shock. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well? Did I not deserve to know?! Did you think I couldn’t handle it?! Why?!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He seems to recover from his shock and his eyes turn hard. Like she’s the one in the wrong. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What was I supposed to tell you? That our clan was wiped out years before the purges really started? That our clan was a harbinger of what was coming for the rest of the Kiri clans? That the only reason we’re alive is because your grandfather bought his wife time to run? Time to strap a toddler to her chest, grab a handful of scrolls filled with clan secrets and run for her life? That she spent days running with hunter-nin chasing her? That she had to <em>beg</em> sanctuary from Konoha? Who were <em>enemies</em> of Kiri at the time? That you had an uncle I can’t even remember who was cut down first because he was playing with the other children at the front of the compound? How was I supposed to tell you that? How was I supposed to tell you that we were a clan but we aren’t now because two people doesn’t make a clan? Tell me, Katsumi, what was I suppose to say?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The truth! You were supposed to tell me the truth!” Katsumi isn’t crying, even if her eyes are burning. Her tou-San had never raised his voice at her before. Has never sounded so angry with her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well now you know. Kiri decided it didn’t want us. And Konoha took us grudgingly. I didn’t lie when I said we weren’t a clan. Because we aren’t anymore.” His voice returns to its normal level, still angry but calmer, more controlled. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lying without lying. The most basic skill any shinobi has. Katsumi can’t handle anymore deception. Can’t handle anymore lies. She walks back to her room, grabs her bag and refills it. She walks back out and to the front door. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m going to the Nara’s for a while.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Tou-San doesn’t try to stop her, she forces herself to ignore the hurt that causes. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Chapter 40</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yoshino-San doesn’t say a word when Katsumi shows up at her door and asks if she can stay for a few days. Just smiles kindly at her and ushers her inside. Shikaku-San is sharpening a kunai on the couch and looks at her with eyes that seem to cut right through her. Like he already can guess what happened. He doesn’t question her presence though, just tells her she knows where her room is (because the guest room beside Shikamaru’s room has been her room for years now, always kept ready if she needed it). </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She sets her things down and goes to find Shikamaru. She hopes he’s around. Hopes he’s not training or on a mission. She needs his quiet, lazy presence more than anything right now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It takes her awhile to find him. Has to wander the Nara compound to check all his favorite cloud watching spots. Finally finds him laid out in a clearing near where they feed the deer. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’s silent as she walks to his side and curls up against him. Her back to his side, tucked under his arm the way they’ve done this a thousand times before. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re back from your mission.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s not a question, but she can hear all the questions behind it. His tone is as lazy and disinterested as ever, but she’s learned to decipher the feelings it hides. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, turned into an A-rank three days in.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His body tenses minutely. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Anyone hurt?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I killed my first person. And my second. And my third. I don’t know how many I killed really. I can only really remember the first one.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Troublesome. Were they going to kill you?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes. I think so.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Then I’m glad they’re dead and you’re not.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has nothing to say to that. They lay there in silence for a long time before she finds her voice again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My dad was born in Kiri.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That so?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah. We were a clan there.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Were?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Kiri killed them all.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I see.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They fall back into silence. Neither has anything to really say to that. So they don’t. They fall asleep in the grass like that. Don’t wake up until Shikaku finds them later that evening and tells them they’re late to dinner. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That night Katsumi ends up sleeping back to back with Shikamaru. After nearly two months sharing a room with her teammates, she doesn’t feel safe enough to sleep alone. He grumbles a bit but makes room for her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s the first night she dreams of blood and mist and death. It’s not the last. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. Chapter 41</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi originally plans to spend a week at the Nara’s. Figures she’ll be ready to face her father after that. She ends up staying indefinitely, because Tou-San left for another mission at some point during the week. Only left a note saying they’d talk when he got back and not to slack off on her training. She balls the note up into a little ball and throws it away. She’s still angry and it feels like tou-San is running away. Trying to avoid her. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t always get to choose when he goes on missions. The wounds are still open and raw and it feels like he’s rubbed salt into them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So she goes back to the Nara household and no one seems surprised. No one seems to have expected anything less from Tou-san and Katsumi wonders if he’s always been this way and she’s just been blind to it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru is with her whenever they’re done training with their teams for the day. Sticks to her side at all times, always ready with a lazy wry comment to make her grin whenever she starts to turn into herself. They play shogi the way they did when they were in the academy with all the time in the world. He still beats her every time, but now one game may take up to three hours. Most of it spent with him in his thinking pose mapping out ways to win. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikaku watches from time to time and more than once tries to get Katsumi to cheat. Ninja are liars and cheats, he jokes, no reason not to cheat here. Shikamaru looks ready to throw the board at him whenever he says that. It’s funny and Katsumi appreciates the laidback, close knit nature of this family so very much. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yoshino is the one she tells about the fight with her tou-San. The woman pours her jasmine tea (the only kind Katsumi has found that she likes) and sits with her at the kitchen table and just listens. Doesn’t tell her she was wrong, doesn’t tell her it was an overreaction, doesn’t even try to tell her it’s okay. Just sits and listens. All she says is that she’s glad Katsumi trusted her enough to tell her. That she’s always there if she needs to talk. Katsumi wonders if her own mother would have been like Yoshino. She likes to think so. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eventually she works up the nerve to show Shikamaru the jutsu Zabuza taught her. She drags him out to the nearest pond and tells him to watch. Katsumi walks out onto the stagnant water and stops in the center. It’s no where near as wonderful as the ocean. There’s no salt taste resting on her tongue and no waves to run and leap over, but it works. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She waits until she’s certain he’s paying attention to begin. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The mist comes to her again thick and easy, like it was waiting for her to remember it. She watches Shikamaru’s eyes widen as he fades from view on the shore. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can’t help what she does next. The opportunity is too good. She moves through the mist as easily as she did before. Silent and swift and smooth. When she knows she’s close enough, she tackles him to the ground. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He manages to catch her as he falls. A surprised huff escaping him as they hit the ground. She’s still giggling as the mist fades away. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Troublesome woman. Where’d you learn that?” Shikamaru looks torn between impressed and baffled. A rarity that Katsumi delights in having caused. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Learned it in Wave Country.” She grins as she watches him pick that apart and put it together with everything else she’s told him about the mission. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Troublesome,” he repeats with a shake of his head, “it’ll be useful though. Most won’t ever expect a Leaf shinobi to know that jutsu.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yes, Katsumi thinks, the Nara family is a blessing to have in her life. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She and Shikamaru end up sleeping back to back in one bedroom or another most nights, because Katsumi wakes from nightmares too often when she’s alone to get any proper sleep. Shikamaru doesn’t mind when she wakes him by accident the nights it happens when he’s in the room. Just rolls over and buries his head in her shoulder blades and mumbles in his sleepy voice that it wasn’t real. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wonders sometimes if it’s normal to feel so at home in a house that isn’t hers. More than once while she’s there she wishes it was her home too. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Chapter 42</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s awkward, seeing her Tou-san when he finally comes back. Awkward and tense, standing on opposite sides of their living room. It feels like a standoff. Like each is hoping the other will stand down first. Katsumi hates it. She wants the easy, simple relationship she had with him back. But she won’t back down. Not on this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally, Tou-San speaks. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I realize I overreacted. I should have told you about it years ago, but I didn’t and still don’t want to talk about it and you were so young. I didn’t want you to know how cruel the world could be.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi tilts her head and says, “I still deserve to know. I’m not sorry I asked and I won’t apologize for it.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-san’s lips thin but he doesn’t reprimand her for it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What do you want to know?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi pauses at that. There’s a lot she wants to know. She wants to know about the clan she never got to meet, about what happened and who they were and how they fought. She wants to know what she lost before she was even born. She also wants to know about Kaa-San. He’s denied her the right to know who her mother was her entire life and she’s sick of that. She wants to know everything about her mother. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So she says, “I want to know everything, but let’s start with Kaa-San. I think it’s time I get to know who she was.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He looks like he wishes he was still on his mission but nods. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What do you want to know about her?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tell me everything.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So finally, after years of not telling her anything, he does. He tells her Hana hated tea too. He tells her she liked to dance and loved music, but was the worst dancer he’d ever seen. He tells her that they met as genin, that she nearly took his eye out with a kunai during an unsupervised spar. That she loved thunderstorms but didn’t like getting wet. He tells her she was civilian born but you’d never be able to tell by the way she acted. Tells her how when she laughed it made the whole room light up. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi commits it all to memory, savors every new piece of information. Thinks she should have known all of this years ago. Finally she asks about the clan. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The story comes slower, haltingly, said a stiff, nearly emotionless voice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Ishihara clan was small. Only around a eighty or so people, but they were fierce and proud and strong. They all had the same sharp teeth. That they were all possessive of the people they loved and all felt the same wild viciousness in a fight that she does. He tells her she wouldn’t have stood out amongst them, would have fit in perfectly.He tells her it happened after a falling out with the Mizukage of the time. The second shinobi war was happening and Kiri was loosing and they kept sending younger and younger children to the frontlines. The Ishihara clan had always had a habit of having more children than most and the Mizukage wanted to send them out before they were ready. When the Ishihara clan said no, refused to bend and withdrew into itself it was taken as treason. The Ishihara clan was already distrusted and feared for their more aggressive tendencies and battle skills, both impressive even for Kiri, this refusal was just the justification Kiri was looking for. Katsumi knows the ending already, doesn’t need to hear about the death that must have followed. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So she asks about the clan secrets her grandmother saved when she ran with her tou-san. Tou-San walks into his room and returns with six scrolls. He looks at them for a long time before handing them to her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s all that’s left. All she could save.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi holds the scrolls in her arms, smells the scent of old ink and blood on them, and decides its enough. It has to be. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They don’t speak anymore after that. The truth is out and it hangs heavy between them. Finally she thanks him for the scrolls and slips into her room to learn things she should have already been taught. Neither apologizes. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. Chapter 43</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi locks herself In her room that night and pours over the scrolls. Devoting herself to reading them with much the same fervor she devoted herself to her swords. Doesn’t sleep at all that night. Too busy trying to memorize every line of them.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The first two are filled with kenjutsu styles of various difficulties. She recognizes the more basic ones as the ones Tou-San taught her. Flowing, graceful, fast movements designed to overwhelm </span>An opponent and leave them no time to defend properly. The more advanced ones look designed for multiple opponents, designed to cut one opponent off from the group at a time while keeping the others from being able to help. A single person would have to be extraordinarily fast and vicious to be able to do it without getting killed.</p><p class="p1">It doesn’t look like the Ishihara clan fought alone, though. From the scrolls it looked like they preferred fighting as pairs. Dual blades and partners. That was how they fought. Moving around each other’s blades and jutsu in perfect tandem. Dogging an opponent unrelentingly. She can see why they would have been seen as vicious. She thinks of how tou-San told her two people don’t make a clan. She thinks the Ishihara would have disagreed entirely.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The rest of the scrolls contain jutsu. Water style jutsu and Katsumi is dying to try them. One is clearly an assassination technique, when done properly it halts the victim’s blood flow entirely. The result is almost identical to a cardiac arrest but without the obvious heart damage. Even when not done properly the results are often fatal. Katsumi is both horrified and fascinated at the prospect.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There are others, complicated difficult techniques that would probably take her years to master. But she finds one she thinks she could do now. It’s similar to pulling water from the air to make mist, nearly the same concept, only needs one extra hand seal too. The difference is the user pulls the water to them before pushing it away as hard as they can. Instead of mist to hide in, it results in the water created acting like a spray of shrapnel over a small radius.While small, it’s devastating if a shinobi is in its range. Katsumi can’t help but grin at the idea. She’s been needing to expand her ninjutsu repertoire. And it’s useful since she’s already a close range fighter. It seems like her Ancestors favored close combat as well.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Reading through the scrolls makes Katsumi wish she could meet the people that wrote them. She wants to know how they thought and what mattered to them. Techniques written in scrolls can only tell her so much. Her grandmother died when tou-San was still an academy student, so Katsumi can’t ask her. She’s not even sure Tou-san really knows enough about them to tell her. It’s disheartening, but she has her answers now, has something tangible to prove they existed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">By the time the sun rises the next morning, Katsumi is buzzing with excitement. She wants to run to Kakashi-sensei and beg him to help her learn the water shrapnel technique. She’s dying to find a way to incorporate it into their formations. They’ve been grounded indefinitely in the village since the C-rank turned A-rank and it’s as good a time as any to learn it. She thinks Kakashi-sensei would be pleased to see the initiative. He likes when they find things they want to learn. He’s a good sensei, but sometimes it seems like he’s not sure what he’s supposed to teach them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mind made up, she goes searching for her Sensei. Determined to master an Ishihara jutsu as soon as possible. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So there won’t be any romance for a while since right now they’re like 12/13 and I haven’t quite figured out if I want that in the story, and if so it won’t be the focus, but I figured I’d ask y’all what pairings y’all would like to see. So comment below if you have any ideas!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0044"><h2>44. Chapter 44</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Katsumi presents Kakashi-sensei with the water shrapnel jutsu after training is finished, he looks it over for a moment then eye smiles at her and ruffles her hair.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, Katsumi-Chan, we can see if we can’t make this work for you.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is beaming. In her excitement, she throws herself at him in a hug the way Naruto tends to do when he gets overexcited. Kakashi-sensei seems thrown by this and awkwardly pats her head once before gently prying her off him. Katsumi doesn’t mind though, he’s weird about things like hugs and he’s agreed to help her learn a Jutsu her clan used.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That settled she goes to catch up with her boys. Since the wave mission they’ve taken to spending some time after training together. Mostly on Naruto’s insistence. Katsumi enjoys it, though there’s days she’d rather unwind on her own after the training Sensei puts them through. Sasuke has to be forced to come nearly every time, but Katsumi notices he doesn’t put much of a fight up.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Today, they end up sitting on the Fourth Hokage’s giant head. It’s Naruto’s favorite spot to see the village from. Katsumi still doesn’t like heights, but she can see the appeal. Konoha looks beautiful from here.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The three of them sit side by side on one of the horizontal spikes of the Yondaime’s hair, legs swinging over the side. Katsumi loves moments like this, with a teammate on either side and just content to spend time with each other.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“One day, my face is going to be up here, dattebayo.” Naruto’s voice is, for once, calm and level as he says it. Like he knows he doesn’t need to yell it when he’s talking to them. Even Sasuke has stopped insulting Naruto’s dream. Katsumi isn’t sure if he actually thinks Naruto can become Hokage or not, but he doesn’t disparage the claim anymore regardless.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Gonna be the ugliest carving in history, dobe,” Sasuke drawls from Katsumi’s other side, his eyes fixed on a point far away.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’ll still look better than seeing that scowl of yours up here, teme.” Naruto’s eyes are watching the village and the activity in it, but Katsumi can see a lazy grin spread across his features.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“As if I’d want to be,” Sasuke snorts at the thought.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“He can’t take the hat, Naruto, It’d mess his hair up,” Katsumi smirks at the dirty look Sasuke sends her, “Yours is already messy though, no one would be able to tell the difference.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto’s laugh echoes out loud and unrestrained. She can tell it’s genuine because he’s not squeezing his eyes shut as tight as he can as he laughs. Instead his face is open and genuinely happy the way it almost never is around most other people.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They aren’t expecting Sensei to hunt them down after training is over. He normally vanishes into thin air for the time between training and missions. Katsumi isn’t sure what’s happening but she already knows she isn’t going to enjoy it.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I just forgot, my cute little genin, we have a month before the Chuunin exams and unless you don’t want to do it, I was planning on nominating you three.” He eye smiles down at them.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Chuunin exams. In a month. After five months of being genin. Katsumi isn’t sure if they’re even close to ready for that.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Do you think we can handle it, Sensei?” Katsumi stares up at him intently.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, do you think I would nominate you if I didn’t think you can?” The eye smile increases.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yes, she thinks, he absolutely would. Though Kami only knows his logic behind it. Probably some kind of challenge with Gai-san.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi makes eye contact with Sasuke. It’s obvious he wants to. A promotion would give him the freedom to take harder missions. Missions that may get him closer to his goal of killing the man who wiped his clan out. Katsumi still has no idea who it was. Sasuke won’t say anything about him.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t even need to look at Naruto to know he’ll agree. Chuunin is closer to Hokage than genin, after all. That’s all the information he needs.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Where will it be held?” Katsumi doesn’t feel comfortable going to a different Hidden Village. Doesn’t feel comfortable having foreign ninja come to Konoha either. Hidden villages like their isolation. Outsiders visiting always raises the tension in them. Too much bad blood between the villages. Even among allies.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Here. It’s the best outcome for you all. You’ll have a home field advantage here.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We’re doing it.” Katsumi isn’t surprised Sasuke agrees first.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah! We’ll pass the first time, dattebayo!” Naruto looks like he’s about to fall of the mountain in his excitement.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi-chan? What do you want to do?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She looks at her teammates then looks up at Kakashi-sensei. She runs her tongue over the points of her teeth and considers it. She could say no. Could refuse and wait for next time. But that means it might be held in a different village and she might have to watch her teammates advance through the ranks without her. Unacceptable.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Let’s do it.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Excellent! You have to enter as a team so I’m glad you’re in agreement!” He doesn’t even bother to say goodbye before he shushins away.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We’re gonna win.” Sasuke’s voice is unyielding when he speaks.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Believe it!” Naruto looks beyond excited for the exams, until a funny look crosses his face.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Um, guys? What exactly is the Chuunin exams?”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0045"><h2>45. Chapter 45</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">If Sensei was a harsh taskmaster before, after they agreed to enter the Chuunin exams he turned into a sadist. Katsumi isn’t sure what demon spirit possessed Kakashi-sensei, but the first morning he’s waiting for them at the training ground, she’s certain she’s going to regret everything that’s led her to this point in her life. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s even more certain of it when he eye smiles at their shock and promptly knocks all three of them out. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they come to, they’re tied to trees somewhere outside the village. No Kakashi-sensei in sight. Just the pug, Pakkun sitting there watching them, looking disinterested as ever. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yo. You have three days to get untied and make it back to the village. Good luck.” Is all he tells them before he unsummons himself. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi stares at the spot the dog had been in disbelief. Kakashi-sensei just dropped them outside the village in an unknown location. Katsumi wonders if this is an abuse of power. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi sits there for a moment, assessing. Her swords are gone. She has her kunai pack and the little medical kit she keeps on her hip. No way to reach either of them. Her hands are tied in front of her. She could potentially chew through the rope, but that’s going to be a long and difficult process even with her sharper than normal teeth. Not something she really wants to do. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto is struggling against his ropes violently. It’s obvious he’s trying to shake one of his kunai out of his thigh holster to try and use that. Not a terrible idea, but Kakashi-sensei has made sure the ropes wouldn’t have enough give for that much motion. It will take hours before they loosen enough for that. If he calms down a bit and slows down, he would have better luck. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s Sasuke that concerns Katsumi. She can see the smoke trailing out of his nostrils. If he tries to burn through the ropes she’s terrified he’s going to hurt himself or one of them. She knows he doesn’t have the chakra control to make a small enough flame for it to be kept contained. If he starts a forest fire while they’re tied up like this, they’ll die. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke, don’t you dare.” Katsumi snaps itas she watches the smoke tendrils thicken. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They glare at each other for a moment before he huffs and looks away. With that disaster averted she returns to trying to figure out how to get out of the ropes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With a reluctant sigh, she sets to work trying to contort her body enough to get her wrist with biting distance. It’s hard and makes her muscles move uncomfortable and puts too much pressure on her joints but she manages it. Barely. Cursing Sensei in her head she sets to work gnawing away at the rope. She feels like a dog doing it. It’s degrading and frustrating and tastes awful but she does it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can feel the rope fibers caught between her teeth as she finally manages to get through it. The rope falls away and Kami does it feel good to have her hands free. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She takes a moment to revel in that feeling before sets to work trying to pull a kunai from her thighs holster. It’s award even with her hands free. She has to twist her lower body around to get then holster close enough to her hands so get a finger hooked through the ring of one of the kunai. It takes three times before she manages it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi cuts her hand as she works to maneuver the kunai to cut away the rest of the rope. She hisses quietly in pain but doesn’t pause. The blood makes the metal slick and hard to hold onto, even with the bandages used as a grip on the thing. She doesn’t let that stop her though, they have three days to make it back. She refuses to be late and face whatever punishment Kakashi-Sensei comes up with for it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She fees the moment the rope breaks and instantly begins to struggle loose the rest of the way. As soon as she’s free she’s darting over to Sasuke. Naruto is half way through cutting through his ropes, he can wait a moment, but Sasuke looks like he’s about to through caution to the wind and try using fire to get loose. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She works rapidly, they’re on a time limit and Sasuke is muttering foul curses at their sensei and Naruto is practically yelling much more creative curses. Distantly she wonders where he learned to curse like that. The quicker they get this done the quicker everyone calms down. Tempers need to cool, their team has always walked a thin line between cohesion and chaos. Anger tips the scales against them too much for her to want to risk it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke is on his feet the money he feels the ropes give way, Sharingan blazing in his fury. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Where the hell did he drop us?” His voice is closer to a hiss than she’s ever heard it, reminding her vaguely of Tora the first time they had to catch him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It can’t be more than a three day run to Konoha. You heard Pakkun. Three days to get untied and get back. It’s also has to be close enough for Sensei to get us all here by...” She glances up at the sun and tries to guess the time, “...noon. that’s assuming he wasn’t moving full speed. If he was, we could easily be further than that.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Which way is the village?” Naruto looks around wildly, like he’s expecting a giant sign to point them in the right direction. If only it was that easy. None of them are trackers, even with Katsumi’s chakra enhanced hearing they aren’t worth anything in that department. They’re a combat oriented squad, with stealth and traps on the side. Their skill set is near useless for this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi purses her lips as she wraps a bandage around her sluggishly bleeding palm, She has no real idea where they are. Sensei didn’t drop them near any defining features, nothing for them to even guess at where they need to go. This is going to be a headache. She can already tell. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto, spawn a few clones, send them in every direction. See if they can find anything to tell us where we are.” Sasuke is the one to find the solution as he paces the little clearing like a caged animal. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches as eight Narutos take off into the forest. Katsumi doesn’t like waiting, she wants to move, wants to get back as soon as possible, but moving in the wrong direction would take to much time from their already short time limit to justify it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It won’t be as easy as just making a beeline for the village, Sensei is going to mess with us the entire time,” Katsumi can’t help the whine at enters her voice. She hates when Kakashi-sensei decides he’s been too easy on them. It almost always results in them stuck somewhere or running for their lives. Last time he used the headhunter jutsu on all of them when they couldn’t land a hit on him during a spar. As if they actually had a chance. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto, you’ll be point. You’re the best at spotting any traps,” Katsumi doesn’t argue when Sasuke says that. Naruto is the best at spotting traps. He’s also much more resilient than they are. He can take more damage than they could ever dream of. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi, we’re going to need your ears. Try to listen for any heartbeats. Even Kakashi-sensei can’t hide his.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And you?” Katsumi asks even as she works on adjusting her hearing until she can hear the sound of a mouse somewhere under the fallen leaves about twenty meters to her right. As long as no explosives are set off, She feels comfortable increasing her hearing has high as it can go. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll keep watch for anything suspicious,” He flashes his Sharingan at her to remind her that while he’s no tracker, his eyes are nothing to scoff at. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That way!” Naruto shouts it loud enough to make Katsumi have to cover her ears. His voice is nearly unbearably loud now that her hearing is enhanced. He’s pointing somewhere southeast and jumping excitedly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“How do you know?” Sasuke looks somewhat disgruntled at the volume too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My clone! It popped when it got to a creek that I think connects to the Naka River!” He’s beaming with pride. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re certain it connect to the Naka river?” It’s not that Katsumi doesn’t trust Naruto’s judgement but she knows his grasp on geography is less than ideal. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course I am, dattebayo. Let’s go!” He takes off in the direction he pointed at without further discussion. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi exchanges a look with Sasuke. Already, she knows they won’t beat that stupid time limit. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0046"><h2>46. Chapter 46</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">By night fall it’s clear the creek Naruto had found did not, in fact, connect to the Naka River. It’s also becoming increasingly hard to keep Sasuke from drowning Naruto in said creek in a fit of rage. Mainly because Katsumi is struggling to remind herself that’s a bad idea.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why did we let the dobe scout?” Sasuke’s spitting his rage.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It was your idea.” Katsumi doesn’t even bother to look at him as she tries to salvage the mess they made.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I really thought it connected.” Naruto whines it as he keeps a careful distance from Sasuke, more than ready to dodge any flames that might get thrown his way.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Lets just work our way back the way we came. If we hurry we may be able to make up the lost time.” Katsumi doesn’t bother mentioning the only way to do what would be to move through the night, completely skipping any sleep they may want to get.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Really, It doesn’t matter that they do that. Making it back to the starting point and making it back to the village are now very different goals. Whatever Kakashi-sensei is up to, he seems content to wait until they figure out where they’re going to start messing with them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As soon as they figure out they need to head Northeast instead, the real challenge begins. It seems like Kakashi-sensei has been holding a grudge about the explosive tags trap from their bell test, because almost every trap they come across explodes. Katsumi has to actually reduce her hearing under what it normally is to keep from becoming temporarily deaf. Even with Naruto alerting them to the traps, they still go off. Katsumi takes back every good thing she ever even thought about sensei. He is a monster.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the traps abruptly disappear, it only makes her more paranoid. They can’t be more than eight hours from the village now, and they’re all sleep deprived and twitchy and hungry. It’s making it harder to focus on the goal and not arguing. Katsumi isn’t even surprised when Sasuke burns a tree down in a fit of sleep deprived rage. She’s just impressed it was only one tree.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she hears the baying of Kakashi-Sensei’s Ninken she wants to lay down and die. Whatever has gotten into sensei has Katsumi at her wits end.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With a groan she darts through the tree branches, trying not to fall too far behind the boys. She’s fast enough in a fight, But she’s only quick in short bursts when running. Katsumi doesn’t have Sasuke’s natural speed or Naruto’s endless stamina and it shows. She keeps up but only just. She’s continually behind them by at least two or three meters. Inevitably it means she’s the one who gets nipped at by the dogs. She really hates Sensei right now.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they finally make it back to the village gates with an hour left to spar, she nearly cries in relief. Koketsu and Izumo give them pitying looks when they see the state they’re in.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei is leaning against the village wall reading his book, her swords tucked under his arm. She feels her eye twitch at the sight of him. She’s not sure what the point of the three day marathon from hell was, but she not okay with it regardless.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My cute little genin! You made it, I was worried you’d miss training.” The eye smile is full force when they reach him. He throws Katsumi’s swords at her haphazardly when she gets close enough to catch them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What.” Sasuke’s voice is completely dead.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Training. You want to be chuunin? You need to train.” Kakashi-Sensei looks gleeful. Gleeful Kakashi-Sensei is never good.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We literally just spent three days running through the woods, dattebayo.” Naruto is squinting up at sensei like he thinks he’s an imposter.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes. And now you all get to learn one new jutsu each. If you’re not too tired that is.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That perks the genin up. Kakashi-sensei hasn’t bothered much with teaching them jutsu yet. He’d focused mainly on formations and sparing and improving skills they already had. The idea of learning jutsu makes them almost forget their exhaustion.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They follow him eagerly to their usual training ground, Naruto pestering him the entire way about what jutsu he’s going to show them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they arrive, he pulls out three little sheets of paper and hands them each one.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Here, concentrate some of your chakra into these.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi looks dubiously at the paper, but obeys. When it becomes soaked with water Kakashi-sensei claps his hands.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Excellent, Katsumi has a water affinity, no surprise there. Sasuke, you have a fire affinity with a lightning secondary, again no surprises. Naruto, you have a wind affinity, not common here but then neither is Katsumi’s.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto grins brightly at the thought of having a rare chakra affinity. Katsumi thinks privately that his a bit more versatile than hers. She knows she needs water to use hers. With practice she knows she’ll be able to pull water from the air without a body of water near her, but the more arid the environment the more useless her jutsu will be. It’s a limitation she doesn’t like at all.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto, you’re going to get to learn wind style: wind torpedo. It’s a B-rank, but you have more than enough chakra for it, and it should fit nicely with your more... eye catching fighting style. Don’t practice it in the direction of your teammates.” Kakashi-Sensei hands him a scroll as he says this.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto snatches it greedily out of his hands and runs off a safe distance from the others. Satisfied, Sensei turns Sasuke.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Since you have such a preference for burning things, you get to learn Fire style: flame sphere technique. Should give you a nice defense. No burning down the village.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke just hn’s and walks a few meters away to go over the scroll.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi-Chan, I’ve looked over that jutsu you showed me and I think we should be able to make it work. You know the handseals?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She nods, bouncing on the balls of her heels in anticipation.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good good, let go to the pond and see if you can do it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi nearly runs to the pond in her excitement, all exhaustion entirely forgotten. She gets to learn a jutsu her clan used. She’s nearly foaming at the mouth in her excitement.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Show me the handseals.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Dog. Ram.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good, now use your chakra to pull the water to you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s harder to do that than make mist, she quickly discovers. It’s one thing to just bring it straight down, another entirely to focus it onto a small point.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And push it out.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She tries, she really does, but the water barely moves before falling into the pond below her. Katsumi stares down at the ripples it made in disappointment.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, Katsumi-Chan, it’s a good first try. Use more force, next time.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi opens her mouth to respond when an explosion originating from Naruto rocks her back.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Keep working, I need to go keep Naruto from killing himself.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Right.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Gathering her chakra she tries again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Dog. Ram.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She manages to pull more water to her this time, but the result is just more splashed around her feet when she tries to push it away.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Dog. Ram. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0047"><h2>47. Chapter 47</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In the month leading up to the Chuunin exams, Kakashi-Sensei has them work on the jutsu he gave them everyday. Sasuke is the first to master his. It’s mildly terrifying to watch him become surrounded by a ball of fire. Katsumi nearly has a heart attack the first time she sees it. She understands why Sensei called it a good defense. She can’t imagine anyone being able to get close enough to hit him when he uses that jutsu. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto’s is similarly terrifying to witness, though for an entirely different reason. His jutsu reminds her vaguely of Sasuke’s fireball jutsu in that he has to blow air from his mouth for it. That’s where the similarities end. It’s like Sensei made Naruto’s breath into an explosive. When it makes contact with something it explodes. A lot. According to Sensei, Naruto is putting way too much chakra into it, but it seems like he just can’t reduce it any further. Naruto sees extremely pleased with it regardless. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has seen progress too. Her water shrapnel jutsu took the longest to master, but it suits her well. The first time she successfully does it, Sensei is standing too close and actually has to Kawarimi with a nearby log to avoid getting injured. The radius is small, only three meters, but it’s the quickest of the three jutsu to activate once she masters it. It gives her a sense of security to know she won’t have to retreat to if she needs to use it. That would defeat the purpose she thinks. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As soon as she masters it, Kakashi-Sensei makes her start working to pull water from the air without a water source nearby. He explains that she’s the most limited compared to her boys because Naruto is always surrounded by air and Sasuke creates his own fire, but she needs a water source. This results in a lot of mediation to feel for water in the air. It’s hard, and she feels like she’s going to run out of chakra doing it, but she sees progress. If she can do it in the exams, she may have a real chance of passing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-San is home the entire month, he explains when she questions it that the Chuunin exam is a massive security risk and that it’s protocol to keep as many shinobi as possible in the village while it happens. This results in him finally teaching her duel wielding extensively. It’s strange holding a sword in each hand, requires work to adjust to the change, but she likes it. She likes feeling like she’s dancing as she uses her swords. It makes her feel like no one can get close to her. A good feeling after being held hostage by Haku, however unwilling to kill her they were. All in all, Katsumi feels comfortable with entering the Chuunin exams. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s a few days before they start that she gets the same feeling she got before the uchiha massacre happened. Like something terrible is hovering just over the horizon. Naruto somehow got a little fan group of academy students who call him boss and try to mimic him. It’s cute, really, like puppies are stumbling after him. They’re also the reason Katsumi gets that sense of foreboding. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She arrives in a little side street to see Konohamaru, the little ringleader, being held up in the air by a kid wearing cat ears. She would laugh at the strange outfit the boy is wearing and the face paint covering his face, but seeing one of the academy children being held like that by someone who is obviously a shinobi makes her snarl instead. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto is already there and yelling at the boy to put the kid down, but it doesn’t seem to be working. There’s a girl with Cat-ears too. A pretty blonde who looks torn between amusement and exasperation. Katsumi can see the Suna hitai-ates they’re wearing and she gets even angrier. Foreign ninja have to follow strict rules of conduct when in Konoha. This is a clear breach of those rules. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Put him down! Now!” Katsumi marches forward to stand with Naruto, her teeth bared to fully display their sharpness. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ahh, Temari look! The little midget is going to try to help now,” Cat-ears leers down at Katsumi and she has to resist the childish urge to kick him in the privates. She’s not even that short anymore; her head is level with Naruto’s shoulders now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The girl, Temari, looks a bit embarrassed to be dragged into the situation. She practically hisses when she responds, “Knock it off, Kankurō! Let’s just go!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Temari. Kankurō. Katsumi files the names away for later. Information is always useful. Akihiro-Sensei liked to tell them that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh come on, Temari, relax. I’m just going to teach the little punk some manners.” His smile is ugly and arrogant and Katsumi is about to launch herself at him when a rock strikes his hand. She follows the trajectory of the rock up to the tree where Sasuke sits. She suppresses a snort. Overdramatic as ever, it seems. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kankurō looks even more irritated than before as he glares up at her teammate, but he drops the little boy. Katsumi doesn’t relax despite that. These shinobi make her hackles raise, and it has nothing to do with the fact they’re foreign. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If you’re here for the Chuunin exams, you should already be aware of the rules you have to follow if you want to stay.” Sasuke’s voice is soft and even but his black eyes are hard as rock as he looks down at the Suna nin. From the way he’s watching them, she’s almost surprised his sharingan hasn’t been activated. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Before anyone can respond. Sand starts to accumulate under the tree Sasuke is in. Katsumi shifts slowly into a fighting stance when she see the fear appear on the Suna Nins’ faces. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The boy that appears isn’t much taller than Katsumi and he looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks. Truthfully he doesn’t look very impressive, kind of scrawny really. The lack of eye brows and the love Kanji on his forehead are interesting, but it’s the gourd on his back she wants to know about. It’s huge, easily his size and looks heavier than he is. She’s a bit impressed he can carry it really. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s his eyes that set her teeth on edge. They’re completely dead. It’s like he doesn’t feel anything, like he’s just an empty vessel. Katsumi immediately doesn’t like it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She watches as the other Suna ninja practically beg forgiveness when he tells them they’re being an embarrassment. Watches the way he seems to disregard everyone else. Except for Sasuke. She wants to tell Sasuke not to respond when he asks him for his name. She doesn’t think this dead eyed boy having any of their names can spell anything good for them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The only good thing that comes of it is that they get his name in return. Sabaku no Gaara. Katsumi resolves to keep her team away from him during the exams if at all possible. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0048"><h2>48. Chapter 48</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The day of the Chuunin exams arrives and Katsumi is a bundle of nerves. She double checks everything she has. Checks her swords’ sharpness, checks her kunai and shuriken for any flaws. Checks to make sure her medical kit is full and she has enough soldier pills for the entire team. Checks and double checks the ninja wire in her hair to make sure it’s hidden. She has no idea what it will be like but she doesn’t want anything to catch her off guard. Checks her registration papers three times just in case she messed up somewhere. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She meets her boys near the middle of the village. Sasuke looks calm as ever, but Naruto is practically bouncing off the walls in his excitement, already he’s declaring he’s going to pass. Katsumi makes him show her his registration forms before they go to the academy where the test is being held. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they arrive, they’re greeted by the sight of dozens of teams. Katsumi can see Suna, Oto, Kusa, and Ame teams amongst the many Konoha teams as they stand in line to turn the tests in. She doesn’t see any Kiri and is quietly relieved by that. She’s certain that a fight with a Kiri genin would be too evenly matched in skills as fun as she thinks it would be. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi would love to wait to see if Shikamaru was entering too, but Sasuke is practically plowing through teams to find the room they’ve been assigned too. Room 301. That’s easy enough to find. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they arrive, there’s a pair of Konoha shinobi she’s never seen before blocking the door. A small group of genin are arguing with them and demanding they be let through. Before Katsumi can move closer to see what’s going on, Sasuke grabs her and Naruto by the wrist and pulls them away. Katsumi glances over just in time to see his sharingan fade back to black. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Genjustu, this is the second floor.” Is his terse reply. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Of course. No reason to make finding a classroom easy. Already they’re being tested and the exam hasn’t even begun yet. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What about the other teams?” Trust Naruto to worry about the competition. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not our team, not our problem,” Katsumi rolls her eyes at the blonde. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they finally make it to the correct room, Katsumi is pleased to see Shikamaru’s team is already here, along with team eight. They’re all huddled together away from the rest of the room. Katsumi is surprised to see Haruno standing with a white haired boy in glasses and another boy with a sheet over his lower face. She looks extremely different. Her hair has been cut short and she’s wearing standard pants instead of a dress. She still has a red shirt but it looks much sturdier than the dress Katsumi remembers. Her face is much more serious too. She doesn’t start fawning the minute Sasuke walks In the room, hardly glances at him really. It’s a complete one eighty to how she used to be. Katsumi doesn’t have a clue what her apprenticeship is like, but it seems to be doing her a world of good. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi moves to stand beside Shikamaru as she murmurs greetings to the rest of the rookies. Sasuke doesn’t even do that much, too busy assessing the other teams in the room, while Naruto is nearly shouting his greetings. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ino doesn’t seem to have changed much since graduation, still confident and beautiful and still very much interested in Sasuke. Katsumi regrets privately that their friendship has fallen to the wayside recently. Choji too. He’s always been nice and she misses talking with him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she looks over team eight she’s no more impressed by them than she ever was. Inuzuka has always been too loud and bragging for her taste, but she can appreciate the Inuzuka ferocity, and Shino, easy as he is to get along with just fades into the back ground. Katsumi pauses to look over Hinata though. She still remembers the shy girl closing her tenketsu point the day of graduation. However she did that, Katsumi resolves not to let it happen a second time. Once was very much enough. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You don’t look like you want to be here,” the room is quiet and Katsumi tries to keep her voice from carrying as she looks up at her oldest friend. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s too troublesome. I only entered because Okaa-San would beat me with her wooden spoon if I didn’t.” His eyes drop down to meet hers for a moment before returning to analyzing the rest of the room. Katsumi wonders how much he’s already figured out about the test just by being here. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ahh, I see. That spoon should be banned by the Hokage, I think.” She leans against him sightly and grins up at him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If only.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Haruno comes over, white haired teammate in tow, Katsumi stands up a little straighter. Watching this new Haruno intently. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Haruno’s voice is different too. It’s calm and collected and completely self assured when she greets them. Yes, Katsumi thinks, whoever Haruno is now, this is not the girl she remembers. Katsumi thinks she could grow to like this version. Much more professional than before. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her teammate, Kabuto, however, gives her a slimy feeling when he introduces himself. Like he’s trying to sell them something for far more than it’s worth. Katsumi quietly taps in basic code onShikamaru’s wrist to keep an eye on him. When he slowly straightens out of his slouch, she knows he understands what she sees. Probably understands it better than her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She would warn Sasuke and Naruto but they’re too busy looking at the strange cards the boy is showing them. Cards that are far too detailed for a genin to be able to get ahold of. Katsumi has so many questions about this boy but no one to ask them to. She just hopes her team doesn’t have to deal with him much. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alright! Everyone take your assigned seat! Now.” Conversation comes to a halt when a man with a scarred, irritated face walks into the room and glares at them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s annoyed mutters and shuffling around as everyone finds their seats. Katsumi ends up at the far end of her row, a Kusa Kunoichi with red hair sitting beside her. Naruto in right in the center of the first row, poor kid. Sasuke is a two rows behind her and on the opposite side of his row. She can hear Shikamaru’s annoyed grumbles as he sits behind her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The man stares them all down as they settle. He looks like he’d like to fail them all just for existing. She hopes he can’t do that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I am Morino Ibiki. I am your proctor for the written portion of the Chuunin exams. Pay attention. I will tell you the rules once.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A written exam. Katsumi’s eyes flick to Naruto. He’d done fine with the genin exam written test, but that was after months of studying for it. They hadn’t done any of that for this one. This is already looking bad. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This exam has ten questions. Only the first nine are on the paper in front of you. You can have a total of ten points on this exam. If you are caught cheating two points will be deducted from your score. For every incidence of cheating caught you will loose two more points until you reach zero. If you reach zero, your entire team fails. The sentinels sitting along the walls will be watching your every move. After an hour has passed, I will verbally give you to tenth question.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ibiki looks over them all impassively, really it looks like he couldn’t care less if they pass or not. He seems to dislike everyone equally. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi looks down at the paper in front of her in contemplation. No cheating, but not automatically disqualified for it. Odd rule. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Begin.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Taking a deep breath, she flips the paper over and stares at it. She almost wants to laugh. Just at a glance, she thinks she only knows maybe three of the questions. Which means Naruto is beyond screwed. She listens to the sounds of people frantically working away at the test and picks her pencil up. Resolved to answer what she can. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She works her way quickly through the three she thinks she can do. She’s only really confident in one of them though. The others are difficult, overly complicated and worded strangely. Or they’re over concepts well above her education. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She sits back at stares at the paper, spinning her pencil between her fingers rapidly. She needs more points than one, needs to make up for Naruto’s likely blank test. The problem is, she doesn’t know how. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She looks at the proctor for a moment, then at the sentinels. She can be caught cheating five times before failing. The light bulb flicks on in her head. They want them to cheat. They want them to not get caught doing it. Her hearing is useless, no one is speaking. She only has her mist and that would probably be too blatant. Though she wonders how many times caught cheating that would count as. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the first team is disqualified it seems to set off a chain of them. Over and over, teams are kicked out as more genin realize the point and fail to execute it well. She watches Naruto, he looks stressed, looks like he’s about to pee himself really. Written tests have never been his strong suit. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi tenses momentarily when she feels Shikamaru’s shadow overtake hers. He’s practiced it on her enough times for her not to panic when it happens. Instead she relaxes into it and doesn’t put up a fight as she watches him write answers down on her paper. He answers each question for her, even giving her the ones she already did. It’s odd watching her hand write without her consent but then he’s giving her the answers so she won’t complain. Kami bless genius friends.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She resolves to help him hide from Yoshino for a day so he can nap undisturbed after this. She quickly memorized the answers and erases her name. She’s going to have to help Naruto and she only has one way to do it. She doesn’t take her eyes off her paper as she searches out water in the room’s air. It’s been a humid summer and the lack of air conditioning in the room works in her favor. It’s hot and people are sweating and there’s just enough humidity in the air to be useful. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She rests her hands under the table, carefully keeping them hidden between her knees and saysa quiet prayer to avoid being caught. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She yanks every drop of water she can find down to create her mist. It’s not near as thick as she’s made in the past but it’s enough to keep her hidden. Enough for this.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t pause to listen to the exclaimations of the people around her or Ibiki’s irritated growl. She darts out of her chair and runs to Naruto’s desk, she swaps hers with his blank one and runs back. She writes the answers rapidly as she can before assuming a bewildered expression and canceling the jutsu. The air clears and everyone looks angry. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">If she counted right, she only got three strikes maximum. She hopes. When no kunai are thrown through her paper she takes that as a good sign. Hopefully they’ll contribute it to one of the Ame genin. Naruto certainly seems much more confident. He’s not shaking in his boots anymore thankfully. Katsumi can feels eyes on her and looks up to meet Ibiki’s eyes. Oh yeah, he definitely knows she did that. Not her most subtle, she’ll admit it freely. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Pencils down! It’s time for the tenth question.” Ibiki snaps it out at them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi sits back in her seat and turns her gaze to look at Sasuke. He looks beyond annoyed with her. Probably thinks her stunt was a bit too obvious but it worked so it’s fine. He’ll get over it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Before I give you the question, I’ll need to tell you a few additional rules.” Ibiki grins darkly at them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Muttering breaks out among the genin left in the room. No one looks thrilled to hear him say that. She can feel the tension in the room building. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You can choose whether or not to answer the question. If you choose not to answer it your team will be disqualified but can try again next year. If you chose to answer and answer wrong you will never be able to take the Chuunin exams again.” His smile darkens further and she feels the killing intent he releases onto the genin. It pushes hard against her, but she refuses to budge. After the blatant cheating she did, she’s committed to seeing this test through. Naruto is tense again but his hands stay firmly down. She doesn’t even need to look at Sasuke to know he’s not going to quit. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">One by one hands raise and teams quit. Katsumi watches all of it dispassionately. None of the people she knows have raised their hands. Beyond that she doesn’t care.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If that’s all, we’ll start the tenth question now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Everyone sits up straighter. This is the important question. The one that gets them to the second stage. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The tenth question... has just been answered! Congratulations you all answered it successfully.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t hear the rest. Doesn’t care about the rest. All that cheating was pointless. Entirely pointless. She could have napped through it. Shikamaru could have napped through it. As long as they didn’t quit for the question. She’s actually a bit annoyed over this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Anko-San jumps through the window to announce she’s the proctor of the second stage, Katsumi takes a moment to mental prepare a will. She loves Anko-San but the woman is insane. Katsumi knows she’s going to torture them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kami help them all. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0049"><h2>49. Chapter 49</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Training ground forty-four. The forest of death. Of course Anko-san is sending them in there. No matter that it’s restricted to tokubetsu-jounin and up only. Who cares that it’s nickname is well earned? Not Anko-San apparently. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is going to set Naruto on her once this is over. Let her experience what it’s like to be the focus of his pranks. Maybe she won’t do this to the next genin if so. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A week. They have a week to steal a scroll that isn’t an Earth scroll from another team and find their way to a tower. While avoiding death by the forest from hell. Katsumi almost wishes they failed that written exam. They better get promoted by the end of this stupid exam. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They’re at the twenty-third gate with absolutely no strategy prepared to get the scroll necessary other than hunting. As bad as that strategy probably is, it makes that dark part of Katsumi’s mind raise its head in anticipation. Katsumi likes to hunt. They’re no tracker unit, but they’re combat oriented and with her ears, well, she’s confident they can find a good fight or two. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke’s whole body is strung tight as ninja wire beside her and even Naruto has gone still with anticipation. They have a mission with clear parameters. They can do this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Lethal force?” Naruto’s voice is steel, his eyes locked on the gate in front of them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Lethal force.” Katsumi and Sasuke answer it together. There’s no rules in the Forest of death and they can’t count on teams from other villages to play nice. So they won’t play nice at all. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the gate opens it feels like Zabuza’s hand shoving her into the mist all over again. Feels like Sensei’s hounds are nipping at her heels. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As one, they shoot into the forest, moving fast towards the center. They want to minimize the effort it will take to hunt. Which means getting ahead of the other teams. They all have to make it to the center, so if they want to succeed that’s where they need to hunt. Katsumi can feel a grin stretch across her face at the thought. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The forest here is much darker than the rest of the training grounds and when the first screams cut the air somewhere to their right, it reminds them it’s the most dangerous too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi, ears now.” Sasuke commands, as if she wasn’t already going to do that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Got it.” When her hearing is increased as high as it can go she starts listening for heartbeats. She can hear water somewhere to her left. Can hear animals, large animals, moving through the forest too. There’s nothing in their immediate vicinity though. Nothing to avoid, nothing to hunt either. Disappointing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Anything?” Naruto is jumping through the tries ahead of them on all fours, very canine like.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nothing worthwhile.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi does the math in her head as they move. Ten kilometer radius means an area of just over 300 kilometers total. Twenty-eight teams made it to this stage. At least one probably just lost by the sound of those screams. So twenty-seven left including them. Twenty-six potential targets. Twenty-four if she removes team ten and team eight. At most, fourteen heaven scrolls. At least, eleven. Eleven scrolls in an area covering three hundred kilometers. Katsumi doesn’t like those odds. And they’re only going to get worse as time goes on. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We have to find a heaven scroll with in the first two days.” She knows that may be pushing it, but she doesn’t think they can afford to wait longer than that. They can’t have the chance of finding one drop any lower than what it already is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right.” Sasuke doesn’t argue with her. Her boys don’t ask for an explaination. They don’t need one. Her word is enough for them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We stick together. No separation unless absolutely necessary.” Naruto reminds them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Plan?” Katsumi glances at the others. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We hunt through the night. There’s going to be at least one team dumb enough to sleep out here.” Sasuke’s voice is even. As if discussing ambushing and potentially killing someone while they sleep is an everyday thing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">After five hours, Katsumi picks up on three faint heartbeats to the west of them. She doesn’t know who they belong to, doesn’t really care either. They have a target now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“West, maybe two kilometers out. Three heartbeats. They’re moving.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Without pausing, the team changes course. Moving quicker than before, Katsumi brings her chakra signature down and trusts the other two to do the same. Kakashi-sensei had taught them that at the same time she was learning to pull water from air. Naruto was the worst at it, but it was enough to fool most genin according to Sensei. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They move in silence, the boys falling behind her to let her take the lead. Whoever it is, they’ve stopped by a water source. Bad move on their part. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s another Konoha team. No one Katsumi recognizes. Probably an older team. Naruto and Sasuke are crouched in the shadows of the branches above her to wait. No point attacking if they don’t have the right scroll. It would just waste energy and risk injuries they can’t afford. Katsumi may have a medical kit but she doesn’t know much beyond the very basics of stitches and bandages. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto drops a hand below him so she can read his fingers as he signs away. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The request is basic. Eavesdrop until she gets confirmation of a heaven scroll. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can hear them speaking. Bickering really. A disagreement over who should hold the scroll. That makes her tense in barely restrained excitement. If the scroll changes hands, they’ll know what it is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The team keeps bickering. Isn’t even paying attention to their surroundings. It’s frustrating. The longer they sit and watch the longer they risk missing a heaven scroll if this team doesn’t have one. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke shifts minutely above her. Whatever he sees must be interesting for him to prepare to move. Those eyes of his are a godsend really. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally the scroll changes hands and Katsumi has to grin. Luck is on their side. White on white. Heaven scroll. Naruto drops his hand down again and signs a single word: go. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t need more than that. She flies through the handseals. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The mist comes hard and fast, there’s no visibility at all and Katsumi is once again thrilled the targets chose to stop by the little river. How kind of them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t wait for the boys. They’ll follow once she clears the mist, even with practice they aren’t worth much fighting blind. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hits the first target hard, doesn’t give them a chance to do much more than shout in shock before she slams slams the hilt of her Wakizashi into their stomach followed by the hilt of her Katana into their temple. If this was a foreign team, she’d have killed them, but it’s not. Konoha doesn’t kill Konoha. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As soon as the boy shouts, the element of surprise is lost and she knows it. No point in fighting blind anymore. Fire blazes at her before she can release the mist though and she knows it isn’t Sasuke. His is much more impressive. So target two is going to fight. That’s fine, she doesn’t mind. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She drops the mist at the same time she goes after target two. She feels more than sees the moment Sasuke and Naruto go for target three. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She grins feral and bloodthirsty at her target. It doesn’t matter that she isn’t aiming to kill them. They don’t know that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They clearly aren’t a close range fighter. He keeps trying to put distance between them. Katsumi isn’t about to let that happen though, doesn’t back off even when a kunai skims her neck, narrowly avoiding slitting her throat. She dogs his every step, aiming shallow stabs and slashes at every part of his body he leaves open. She refuses to accidentally kill a comrade. Even in this hellscape of a test. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Target two isn’t a pushover though. She’ll give him that. He sends another fire jutsu her way in an attempt to make her back off. It probably would have worked if she hasn’t spent six months working around Sasuke’s Fire jutsu. As it is, target two’s doesn’t even give her pause. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She sees orange out of the corner of one eye and black out of the other. So target three is dealt with. Good. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A massive ball of fire shoots at Katsumi and her opponent. That’s her cue. She falls back at the last second, the heat turning her cheeks red as she gets away from it. Target two moves exactly as he should. Jumping back straight into a pair of Naruto clones who have no issue with restraining and knocking him out mid air. It’s impressive really, she thinks as she straightens up from her crouch on the shore, that type of coordination. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Which one had the scroll?” Sasuke looks like someone kicked him across the face. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“This one.” Naruto grins triumphantly as he pulls the scroll from target two’s body before dragging him ashore. No reason to let the guy drown after all. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi wipes the small amount of blood on her blades away. Before tucking them back in their sheaths. No poison today. Katsumi hadn’t bothered to reapply it lately. Though she had a new paralytic ready and waiting in her hip pouch. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can feel the blood trickling down from the cut on her neck, slow and warm. Muttering a curse, she works on wiping as much of it away and slaps a bandage and gauze over it quickly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good. We need to head straight for the tower now. Sasuke, Keep the heaven scroll.” Katsumi isn’t interested in lingering any longer. They have what they came for and it’s time to go. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You still have the earth scroll?” Naruto glances at her as he stretches his arms above his head. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course.” Katsumi can feel the weight of it tucked into the zipped up pocket of her pants. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good. Let’s move.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0050"><h2>50. Chapter 50</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The team is feeling good after their easy success. Even though it’s well past sunset, They move through the trees a bit slower now. No need to rush anymore. They have more than enough time to reach the tower now that they don’t have to hunt for a scroll. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That probably should have been their first clue. Nothing is ever that simple for them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It happens as they’re midleap between trees. A kunai flies out and misses Naruto by a centimeter. Katsumi barely manages to slow her momentum enough to avoid another one. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Reverse Pyramid!” Sasuke’s voice brokers no arguments as they hit the next tree branch and stop to face the attack. Naruto and Sasuke are in the front this time, essentially guarding her. Both primed to use their more destructive jutsu. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is expecting a team. What they get instead is a single Kusa shinobi. A woman as best she can tell. The creepy tongue woman from before the exam. Lovely. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She smiles at them, a sinister smile at makes Katsumi tense up. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she speaks, Katsumi fees a shudder run down her spine at the soft, sibilantvoice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I believe you have something I need.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi narrows her eyes. Whoever this is, she’s not getting either of their scrolls. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No. I don’t think we do.” Sasuke drawls from beside her, shifting slightly as he prepares a fireball jutsu to go with naruto’s more explosive one. Wind and fire are a nasty combination. She has no doubt they’d start a forest fire if necessary. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Right now, Katsumi isn’t much use. She has no jutsu she can use at this distance. Her mist would just make it harder on the boys. Sasuke moves in front of her slightly, enough for her to see the heaven scroll in his pouch. When he twitches one finger towards her, she gets the message. Using ever drop of stealth genma-San ever drilled into her, she moves in from his pouch to her zipped pocket. It’s a tight fit but she makes it work. She’s not going to be much use in a long distance fight, but she’s more than able to play keep away. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As soon as Sasuke feels it leave his pocket, he’s running through the handseals for the fireball jutsu. Maybe a showy start will get this woman to leave for easier prey. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The fire explodes out, hot enough to make Katsumi have to squint against the heat. He must have toned it down for the last fight because this is much larger. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It doesn’t work. The Kunoichi merely dodges it as if it’s nothing. Doesn’t even look startled. This is bad. That is an A-rank jutsu and she isn’t even ruffled by it. Whoever this woman is, Katsumi is certain she’s above their league. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto speeds through the handseals for his wind jutsu. It doesn’t seem like much at first glance. Barely a breeze really. Until it hits a target. The explosion is massive as it hits the tree the woman was standing in. It rocks Katsumi back against the tree truck and she’s actually shocked at how powerful that was. She’d seen him do it before. But never to that extent. The tree is actually gone from the point of impact and up. As if it were never there. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The woman hardly seems bothered. Her outfit is a bit more scorched and tattered, but she looks perfectly fine other than that. Katsumi already knows this is not a fight they can win. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I do believe it’s my turn, children,” the woman tsks at them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The killing intent the woman releases after she says that freezes Katsumi in place. It’s so much more oppressing than Kakashi-Sensei’s. Less of the threat of death and more of a promise. Like they’re already corpses and they haven’t realized it yet. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she attacks them, it’s Naruto who reacts first. He spams clones to attack the woman, then actually slaps Sasuke and Katsumi across the faces. Hard. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Focus! We have to move!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t need another moment. She bolts. The boys are at her back. She can hear the woman laughing as she chases them. Hears the explosion as Naruto let’s loose another wind jutsu midrun. Whatever this woman wants, she’s not sure it’s the scrolls anymore. It’s just too much trouble for her if it is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t see what happens next. She hears it though. A loud crash and the sound of metal meeting metal. Hears the woman’s laugh far too close to her ear for comfort and on instinct flips through handseals. Ox. Snake. Dog. Ram. Deadly sharp tendrils of water shoot out from Katsumi. She hears a hiss and knows at least one hit the mark. Then she gets thrown full force into a tree. Doesn’t even have time to blink before it happens. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can feel ribs crack as she connects with the tree. Has to hold back a cry of pain. She almost blacks out from the sheer pain of it, is almost positive she must have a concussion too. She feels herself start to fall, feels distant panic as she realizes she’s not going to be able to catch herself. She’s going to fall to her death and there’s nothing she can think to do. Katsumi hears a panicked shout, and feels a warm body slam into her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Dammit, Katsumi! Stay awake!” Oh it’s Sasuke. He sounds a bit angry. That’s not good. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He sets her on a new tree branch and leans her against the trunk. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Stay here!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi feels useless as she watches the boys fight. Too out of it to do much. They’re loosing, badly. She thinks her concussion must be really bad, because it looks like the woman’s face is peeling off. How unusual. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches as Naruto spams clones again, trying a second time to overwhelm the woman with sheer numbers. She giggles a little at the sight. So much orange. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the woman’s neck suddenly stretches, far, far longer than it should be able to, Katsumi stops giggling. She knows in her soul she’s seen that before. A long, long time ago. She knows it’s bad. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Then the lady bites Sasuke and Sasuke is screaming in pain and Naruto’s eyes are red. When did Naruto get the sharingan? She’s certain he isn’t an uchiha. Katsumi decides to ask him about it when she can stand. And then Naruto is falling too. Landing on a branch well below her and Sasuke is unconscious and oh This is so bad. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The woman hardly pays her any mind though, despite Katsumi still having the scrolls. Whatever she came here for, she’s gotten it. Even though her skin is now gone and she’s got a new face. Maybe that was what she wanted. A new face. Not that it’s much better than the old one. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches as the woman disappears and wonders if she just imagined it all. But no, Sasuke is passed out on one branch and Naruto on another and her ribs are screaming in pain. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Whatever just happened was bad. Katsumi needs to move her teammates. She grits her teeth against the pain and forces herself to move. She knows she needs to be careful. She doesn’t know if her ribs are broken but if she moves wrong and they are, she’ll definitely puncture a lung. Can’t have that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It takes a long time but she gets to Sasuke. Manages, barely, to lift him. It takes even longer to get to Naruto. She ends up nearly falling from dizziness and the strain of her two teammates. It’s nearly sunrise when she makes it to the forest floor and finds a little cave to hide in. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wants so badly to sleep. She knows about concussions though. Knows sleep is the worst idea right now. Knows even without it, someone has to be on watch at all times. Knows they need traps too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s swaying as she moves out of the cave. Struggling to breathe through the pain and she’s no Naruto. She can’t do most of the traps he can, even when she’s working at a hundred percent. She’s watched him do it enough times to make a few basic ones though. She manages seven before she has to stop. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Crawling back into the cave she checks the boys’ pulses. Naruto is fine, as best she can tell. Sasuke is concerning to her even with the struggle she’s having to think. He’s got some kinda of tattoo where creepy lady bit him, and he’s feverish with a fast heart rate, not good. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi sits back against the cave wall and closes her eyes for a moment. All she can think is that this cave may well be their grave. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0051"><h2>51. Chapter 51</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For three days, Katsumi does her best to keep her teammates alive. Tries to keep Sasuke’s fever down. It’s hard and she’s in constant pain and moving is hard even after treating her own injuries. More than once she nearly breaks down in tears because her boys may be dying and she can’t do anything. Useless. Utterly useless. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t even care about completing the exam anymore, she just wants out of this damn forest. Just wants to get her boys to safety. If they die here, she’ll never recover. She’ll never be able to move on from this nightmare if they die. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her concussion has fading to a constant pounding migraine and it helps some. Being able to think helps. Her ribcage is still in agony but she couldn’t feel any breaks when she checked. Probably just cracked, how lucky. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As much time as she spends trying to keep her teammates alive, she spends twice as much snarling her frustration. It’s to the point her throat is sore from it. She can’t stop though. This is a disaster and she just can’t calm down enough to rest her larynx. She just wants to get out of here alive. Just wants to get her boys medical treatment. She wants Kakashi-Sensei to be here. He’d know what to do. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wants to move them. But she’s not sure her ribs can take it. Not sure Sasuke could either. Naruto seems perfectly fine, just won’t wake up. But Sasuke’s fever just won’t break and it terrifies her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she hears one of the haphazard traps she made go off she prays it’s an animal. She’s in no state to protect the others right now. She forces chakra into her ears and hopes against hope it’s not another team. What she hears scares her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s at least three teams near her. One is moving away. Two are moving towards then. One is much, much closer to them than the other.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi manages just barely to suppress her growls and crawls out of the cave. Determined not to let anymore harm come to her team. She’s shaking as she draws her Wakizashi. It hurts to move into the correct stance. Hurts to lift it at all, but she forces herself to do it. Refuses to fail again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s Oto nin that find them. Katsumi peels back her teeth at them in warning. She’s in no condition to fight them, not when they look like they’re in perfect health, but that doesn’t mean she’ll roll over and show her belly. She has her team to protect. She can’t fail. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You know, that was a really pathetic trap back there. It’s like you wanted us to find you.” The Oto Kunoichi looks at her with the most condescending expression Katsumi’s ever seen. It makes her want to punch her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t say a word just glares at the girl. Refuses to dignify her with a response. Doesn’t even growl. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The taller boy grins nastily at her, but it’s the shorter one who speaks. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wake Sasuke up, little girl. We’d like to fight him.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi just stares at him, stupefied. As if she hasn’t been trying to wake him up for the past three days. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You hear that, Dosu? She said ‘no’,” taller boy looks like she just gave him a present, “let me kill her.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi tenses further. Even with the darkness in her mind begging to take over, she’s not sure she can even come close to winning this. Three against one is no fair fight. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She snarls as the boy steps forward, cocky and already assured of his victory. She has no idea what this boy can do but from the way he keeps his distance she doesn’t think he’s much for close combat. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So she forces the pain down and makes herself move. Doesn’t want to give him the time to do anything. She lets herself fall into that darkness of hers and just attacks, attacks, attacks. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can smell blood as they fight, doesn’t know if it’s hers or his but she doesn’t care. When the girl gets involved, Katsumi draws her Katana. She feels the sting of a needle hit her in the shoulder and keeps moving. This isn’t a fight she can win, but she thinks she can make it a Pyrrhic victory for them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she’s thrown back with a blast of air to the chest, she feels something in her chest give painfully and coughs up blood. She’s almost positive one of her ribs finally broke. She forces herself up, breathing hard and pained, wheezing as she tries to pick up her swords again. When the taller boy picks her up by the neck, she knows she’s dead. Knows he’s not going to let her walk away from this fight. Distantly, she can hear the girl talking about cutting up her face before they kill her. She feels the boy squeeze her neck harder and she can’t help but cough as she struggles to breath. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The boy holding her doesn’t snap her neck or cut her face though. He leers at her and says, “I dunno, she might be fun to keep alive a little while now that I think about it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s struggles renew at the implications. She’d rather he just killed her if he means what she thinks he does.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She needs to calm down. Needs to think. Panic is death. She has to stop panicking. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her blood roars in her ears and her body is screaming in pain but she smiles a bloody smile at the boy and brings her hands together. Thank Kami for humid days. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Dog. Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She forces the water to explode out from her as fast as she can. As hard as she can. The girl screams and the boy lets her drop to the ground as he tries to get away from the blast. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi can see blood covering the ground and she knows it’s not hers. She may be too weak from her injuries and the lack of oxygen to stand back up but she laughs wildly as she watches the Oto nin try to stop the bleeding. She may die today, but now two of them may well join her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The shorter boy pulls a kunai and she just keeps laughing even as it becomes clear he’s aiming to throw it at her heart. She laughs ever louder when he freezes, unable to move. She knows the Calvary has arrived. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shadow possession complete.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“He-hey, Sh-Sh-Shika, come to-to save me?” Katsumi can’t stop laughing. Her whole body hurts and she’s bleeding and her throat is screaming in pain and she just can’t stop laughing. She’s not going to die today, because Shikamaru is here and he’s using his scary voice. Thank Kami. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shut up, Ishihara.” His voice is cold and dangerous, but she can hear the worry under it. Bless him. He worries. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ino’s face appears above her and she looks stricken. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You need to stop talking, Katsumi! You’re hurt and talking is making it worse!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yeah. Katsumi is aware of that. As long as her ribs don’t puncture a lung, she thinks she’ll be fine, though. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ino and Choji are helping her sit up and she’s never been happier to see them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They’ve just sat her up, and Choji is putting her arm around his neck to move her, when Sasuke sits straight up where she put him three days ago. Okay. That’s interesting. And unnerving. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he comes out of the cave, Katsumi isn’t sure she’s not seeing things. He has some kind of markings covering his face and arm. He also has a near psychotic expression on his face. For the first time, she feels dread pool in her stomach at the sight of her teammate. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Whatever is happening, Katsumi doesn’t like it. When he looks at her and then asks which on of the ninja choked her she likes it even less. When he proceeds to dislocate the taller boy’s arms she’s actually scared of him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke? Please stop. You need to stop. You’re still recovering and you need to stop.” Katsumi chokes it out, desperate to be able to recognize her teammate again. Can’t he see they’ve already won? Two thirds of the Oto nin are passed being able to fight them and the third is held tight by Shikamaru. Katsumi watches as the boy knocks himself out with his own kunai. Scratch that, Shikamaru got sick of holding him apparently. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke doesn’t respond for a long moment. Finally, though the strange marks retreat and he cries out in pain as he falls to his knees. Katsumi tries to go to him but her body hurts and Choji holds her back. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“He’s not himself right now, Katsu. You need to give him space.” Ino’s voice is tight with worry as she looks over at Sasuke but she doesn’t move any closer to him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru steps between her and Sasuke, effectively blocking her view, and knees down. His hands move over her quickly and gently. Searching for injuries. His eyes are dark and furious as he looks her neck over. She wonders if being choked made it bleed again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“One of your ribs is broken.” He says it like he’s plotting murder. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“A few others are cracked too, I think.” Maybe she shouldn’t tell him that but she can’t help it. She’s never lied to him before. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Have you got your scrolls yet?” Shikamaru’s voice is hard and leaves no room for her to refuse the question. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, you?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes. Ino, get her swords. Choji, wake Naruto up. I’ll help Katsumi.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they trade positions, Katsumi can’t help but cry out in pain. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke finally gets up and glares at Shikamaru. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She’s my teammate.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re in no condition to move her. Deal with it.” Shikamaru doesn’t even look at Sasuke as he helps her to her feet. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Distantly, she hears the sound of Naruto yawning and asking how long he was asleep for. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he stumbles out of the cave, Choji behind him, his eyes go wide at the sight of her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi! What happened? Are you okay? Do you need anything?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She’s hurt, you idiot. Stop crowding her,” Shikamaru snaps it at Naruto. None of his usual patience present. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Naruto backs off, Shikamaru gives a short nod and looks at the group, “Lets get to the tower. Now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">No one argues with that. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0052"><h2>52. Chapter 52</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The two teams arrive to the tower with nearly three full days to spare. Shikamaru hasn’t spoken a word to anyone since telling them they were going to the tower. Had hardly even looked at anyone. He carries her through the tower in dead silence, her teammates trailing behind him. Katsumi thinks Ino and Choji went to find rooms or something to sleep in but she’s not sure. She’s too exhausted and hurt to really think properly anymore. All she wants is to sleep. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru finally speaks when he finds what he’s looking for: the medic station. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Fix her. Now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t think that’s how you’re supposed to talk to iryonin but her throat is killing her too much for her to form the words. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The medic takes one look at her and has Shikamaru place her on one of the beds. Katsumi nearly cries in relief as healing chakra is pushed into her system. The medic fixes her throat first, muttering under his breath about how pointlessly dangerous this part of the exams was. When the concussion induced migraine is relieved she actually does cry a little. By the time they get to her ribcage she’s drowsy with the soothing feel of the green chakra flowing through her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They fix the cracks in her ribs, but only partially fix the break. Something about needing it to heal naturally. Katsumi isn’t really sure. Doesn’t really care either. For the first time since entering the forest of death she can sleep. She’s entirely content to slip into unconsciousness. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she comes to, she’s in a pitch black room, and she feels so much better. She can feel a familiar warm weight pressed against her back. Shikamaru. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He’s curled around her, positioned so he’s between her and the door. When she shifts slightly, his arms tighten around her and he speaks, his voice rough with something other than sleep, “I thought you were going to die.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi pauses for a moment. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So did I, honestly.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“When we got there, you were laying on the ground, surrounded by blood about to get a kunai to the chest. And you were just laughing.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I thought I was about to watch you die. You didn’t even look like you were going to try to move.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I wasn’t. I had reached my limit, I think.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You don’t get to stop fighting, Katsumi. Not like that. You hold on until me or someone else can get there. You don’t just lay there and wait to die.” She can hear the anger in his voice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah... okay, Shikamaru.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I mean it. Never again.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Never again.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good. Now go back to sleep, troublesome woman.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi obeys. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next time she wakes up, there’s sunlight pouring in and Naruto and Sasuke are sitting beside the bed, backs against it in rare silence. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke? Are you okay?” Katsumi stares at the dark haired boy, at the strange mark on his neck. She’s terrified that something has fundamentally changed in him. He’d terrified her when he first woke up. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Both boys are on their feet instantly. Neither boys look like they’ve slept since getting here. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi! Are you better? Should you be talking? Your neck looked really really bad, dattebayo! Do you want me to get you anything?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi sits up and trends to stretch before answering. It hurts her ribs to do it, but not near to the degree they’d been hurting. Bless iryoninjutsu. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Medic fixed my throat. A few more days and I’ll be back toone hundred percent. How long have I been sleeping?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nearly two days.” Sasuke’s eyes keep lingering on her neck. Katsumi almost wishes she’d been able to see the extent of the damage there if everyone seems so bothered by it. She’s pretty sure it was all superficial there at least. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Help me up.” She stretches her arms out and wiggles her fingers expectantly. She wants a shower and food. That sounds wonderful right now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke helps her off the bed. Hovering over her until he’s certain she won’t fall. He seems like is normal self. Helpful but angry. But... that mark on his neck is still there. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke? What did that lady do to you?” The concussion has made it hard for her to remember that fight. Bits and pieces gone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“His name was Orochimaru. I’m not sure what he did, we’ll talk about it later.” Sasuke doesn’t look at her when he says it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t like it, but she nods. Knows from his tone, the subject is off limits. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Where’s the showers?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto practically runs to show her, Sasuke sticking to her side, ready to catch her if she looks like her legs are going to give out. Such worriers, the pair of them. They’re the ones who were in three day comas. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They hover outside the bathroom door as she showers. If she hadn’t just needed to be carried to the tower, she’d be more annoyed with the hovering. As it is she just revels in the feeling of washing four days of blood and dirt off her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she’s done, she looks in the mirror. The medic did a wonderful job fixing her neck. Can’t even tell it had been injured in the first place. Her ribs don’t like quite as good. The medic has lessened the damage, but the bruises around the broken rib remained to some extent. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With a sigh she gets dressed in the spare clothes she packed into a storage scroll. The ones she wore into the forest are beyond saving. Unfortunate but nothing to be done about it now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she comes out, Naruto is chattering a mile a minute and tugging her in the direction of the cafeteria. She listens with half an ear as he tells her who all is here so far. Team eight and team ten made it. The Suna team made it. The Oto team apparently made it, barely, and Shikamaru Is potentially plotting their murder. Haruno’s team came in a few hours ago. When he describes a Konoha team that has a kid in green spandex, Katsumi snorts. So Gai-san’s team made it too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Twenty-one shinobi so far. With a day left until the exam ends. Katsumi wonders how many more will make it out. The test allowed for fourteen teams to make it through at most. Based on how it was in the Forest, Katsumi doesn’t think that many will make it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Well. Anko-san did say more than half the teams would be gone. Katsumi has never known her for a liar. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay y’all! Important question! Who should Katsumi fight during the prelims? I can’t decide!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0053"><h2>53. Chapter 53</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The end of the second phase comes and no other teams make it. Katsumi’s rib is tender but she thinks it’s as good as it’s going to get for now. It’s her swords that concern her. She sits against Shikamaru and carefully sharpens them again. Then applies the paralytic to her blades. It was a mistake on her part not to have already done that. She won’t make that mistake again. The next time she fights someone, she’s going to make sure they stay down. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru has spent the past day at her side, glaring venomously at any foreign shinobi that so much as breath in her direction. It’s worse when the Oto nin pass by. The shadows around them seem to grow darker than natural and move ominously. Katsumi has never seen him like this. He’s the most laidback person she’s ever met, it’s jarring to see the unbridled hatred whenever he sees that team. He only tells her not to worry about it when she asks about it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto has been wandering the tower for hours. Katsumi has no idea what he’s looking for, or even if he’s looking for anything, but she hasn’t been able to get him alone long enough to ask about his eyes turning red. She needs to know if that was just something she imagined in her disorientation. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke is on edge too. Alternating between avoiding everyone and hovering over Katsumi and Naruto like an angry mother hen. She’s seen him grab at the place the mark is but whenever she asks him about it he snaps at her to leave it alone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi really wants to talk to Kakashi-Sensei. He’d be able to help, but she hasn’t seen him since before the second phase began. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The atmosphere in the tower is tense. More than once it seems like one team or another is going to come to blows with another team. Katsumi wonders at the logic of putting them all in a building together after such a high stress ordeal. It’s almost over now, though. Any minute the second test will end. Then she can find Sensei and get her answers. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A bell rings through the building, announcing the end of the test. Shikamaru pulls her to her feet and together they go find their teammates to head to the area they were told to arrive at when the test ended. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Together, the two teams enter huge open room. They all take their places among the others who made it to this point. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The jounin sensei are all waiting for them, faces serious and blank, standing behind the Sandaime. Kakashi-Sensei is there. His eye is moving over each of his students, hunting for injuries. When his eyes land on her, she signs rapidly, trying to keep Sasuke from seeing, the signs for neck, injury, and Sasuke’s name. When Kakashi’s eye tightens for a moment, she knows he saw it. Thank Kami. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the Hokage steps forward and smiles at them, Katsumi wants to growl at him. People nearly died in that forest, some did. Katsumi doesn’t see why he’s smiling knowing that. She’s never met the old man, though she knows Naruto is close to him, seeing him smile after that mess of a test makes her dislike the man to some extent. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Congratulations on making time through the second test, genin! You’ve all done your villages proud to make it this far! The third test is a test of battle skills. Each of you will spar against another genin. Unfortunately, we weren’t expect so many of you to pass the second test. Therefore we will have preliminaries now to determine who continues on to the third round in a month. Now keep in mind that winning or loosing in the third round is not all that determines whether you will be promoted or not.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Silence follows that. They have to fight? Now? Katsumi shifts slightly and feels her rib twinge in pain. She can fight, but one good hit to her ribs will crack them all over again. And Sasuke, whatever that Orochimaru person did to him has had a negative impact on him. Katsumi is certain of that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“From now on, you move forward as individuals. If any of you would like to stop here, you’re free to do so now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi can feel Shikamaru’s eyes on her. She doesn’t know if he thinks she should quit or if he thinks she’s going to, but she doesn’t react to it. She’s come too far to stop now. One fight and then she’s done for a month. She can do that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Haruno’s white-haired team, Kabuto, raises his hand and quits. There’s a long silence as he walks away, but no one else joins him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A sick looking man steps forward and coughs once, “I’m Gekko Hayate. I will be your proctor for this portion of the exams. Matches will be randomly decided by the screen behind me. Fights will continue until one contestant forfeits or can no longer continue. If it becomes clear a fight is over, I will call the match. Now, please go up the stairs to the viewing area and only come down for your match. We will begin once the arena is clear.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The jounin sensei join the teams as the make their way to the walkways running down the sides of the arena. Idly, Katsumi thinks it rather looks like a dog fighting pit or something equally vile. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches Kakashi-Sensei pull Sasuke aside as speak to him in low heavy tones. Katsumi could eavesdrop, but she’s almost certain Kakashi would disapprove. Whatever is said, Sasuke looks furious. Looks like he’s a step away from spitting in Kakashi-Sensei’s face. Katsumi is deeply worried now. Sasuke is short-tempered, true, but he’s normally much better at controlling his facial expression. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the pair finally come to stand beside Katsumi and Naruto, Sasuke refuses to look at her. So. He knows she mentioned the weird mark. And now he’s mad. Katsumi refuses to feel bad expressing her concerns. They’re entirely justified. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi just shakes her head and looks at the screen. Whatches as it speeds through names until it comes to a stop. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yamanaka Ino versus Inuzuka Kiba. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s lips press together. She knows Ino’s skill set. Or she did. And unless Ino has been more focused on training than boys, Katsumi isn’t sure this is going to end in her winning. Inuzuka is brutal Taijutsu fighter. All of his clan is. Combined with a ninken partner. Well, Katsumi hates to admit but she won’t be betting on Ino. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ahh man, I have to beat up a girl?” Katsumi snarls when she hears Inuzuka speak. Ino looks just as offended. Good. An angry Ino is an Ino that can do damage. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Inuzuka should have stayed silent. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the pair get down to the center of the arena, Ino doesn’t say a word to Inuzuka’s taunts. Doesn’t show a single emotion. Just watches him unnervingly. Katsumi is suddenly reminded of what it is Yamanaka’s specialize in. The mind. Breaking it or putting it together. They like to toy with people. It’s what they do. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All Inuzuka has done by taunting Ino is ensure she plays with him. Pushes until he snaps. Maybe she can win. If she plays it smart. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Gekko calls start and its Ino that moves first. Aiming a kunai straight at Akamaru. Katsumi watches the dog jump back and his owner growl in offense. So Ino is going to go for the dog. Good way to anger an Inuzuka. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Inuzuka seems to decide he no longer minds fighting a girl and jumps straight to his bigger attacks. Katsumi watches as suddenly the dog turns into a clone of Inuzuka. It’s eerie to see the two of them side by side like that. One clearly more animalistic than the other, but only just. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ino doesn’t seem bothered by the sight. Only blinks slow and long in response. It reminds her of Shikamaru really. Katsumi wonders if years of being around him have finally rubbed off on Ino. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the pair start spinning fast as anything towards Ino. She just stands there. It’s at the last moment she moves. She’s faster than Katsumi remembers. She moves straight forward and under them to dodge the attack, ending up barely out of the range of impact. The sound of Inuzuka and Akamaru hitting the ground is a low grade explosion. If Ino gets hit even once, the fight is over. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Before the pair can regain their bearings and attack again, she’s launching a kunai with an explosive tag on it at one of them. Probably Akamaru if she managed to keep track of which is which. Katsumi certainly didn’t. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The explosion send both flying back, one clearly yelling curses at Ino. So, It wasn’t Akamaru she was aiming at. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Before Inuzuka even hits the ground, Ino is flying through the handseals for her mind transfer jutsu. In the split second before he hits the ground she triggers it. There’s a moment of stillness in the room as only the dog is left mobile in the Arena. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Did she manage it?” Katsumi glances over at where Shikamaru is standing with Choji and their sensei a few feet away. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru is still. Eyes intent on the slumped form of his teammate. He doesn’t answer her</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Inuzuka’s hand raises, head still slumped towards the ground, they have their answer. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I forfeit.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Instantly he’s falling forward towards the floor and Ino is raising her head back up, a look of utter superiority on her face. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So that’s why dog breath didn’t want to fight a girl. He knew he’d lose.” Ino flips her hair over her shoulder and saunters back up to the viewing area as the proctor calls the match in her favor. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Huh. Maybe Katsumi should have bet on Ino. Even Shikamaru looks surprised. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Once Akamaru wakes Inuzuka back up and the dazed boy returns to his team, the board presents the next match. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tsuchi Kin versus Kankurō. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi remembers the face painted Suna boy, but she’s not sure who Kin is until the Oto girl from the forest walks down to meet him. Katsumi has to suppress a mean grin at the sight of the girl’s face. She’d been on the edge of her water shrapnel jutsu, but she caught it right in the face. One eye is still completely bloodshot and her face is covered in ugly, half treated scratches that will surely scar. Not so pretty now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s not sure what Kankurō can do, but she knows Kin likes senbon. She got nailed in the shoulder with one, she recalls. Of course, the boy’s clothing is loose the way Suna clothing tends to be. Being able to aim accurately enough with a senbon to hit him may prove difficult. Katsumi hopes whatever he can do, it wrecks the girl. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s an interesting enough match. Turns out the girl is a genjutsu specialist who uses bells to trigger the genjutsu. Kankurō is a puppet master. Interesting. Katsumi has only read about it in books. The puppets are really very ugly though, practically nightmare fuel. Kin manages to catch Kankurō in her genjutsu but not before he cuts her with a poisoned blade from one of his puppets. Katsumi can appreciate that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Too bad Kankurō didn’t do more damage. At least Kin has to be carried out on a stretcher for emergency treatment though. Apparently it wasn’t a nonlethal poison. Oh well. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The board chooses again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hyuuga Neji versus. Hyuuga Hinata. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi can recognize the point instantly. Two members of the same clan facing each other? One is unnecessary. This is just to decide which one that is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neji apparently has a grudge against Hinata. Katsumi doesn’t really care about their family problems, but even she winces at the sheer brutality Neji displays as he beats Hinata. He ends up having to be restrained by multiple jounin before he kills his own cousin. Katsumi has to hold Naruto back from launching himself down into the arena to fight the boy himself. Katsumi privately agrees with his rage, but now isn’t the time to lose his temper. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The board shows the new match. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Haruno Sakura versus Uchiha Sasuke. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi stands up straighter. She wants to see what Haruno can do now and she wants to see Sasuke win. This match should gives her both in one pretty package. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So who y’all betting on? Sakura or Sasuke?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0054"><h2>54. Chapter 54</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke and Haruno stare across the arena at each other. Even after the match begins, neither move for a moment. Just observing each other. When Sasuke finally moves, it’s not into the stance she expects. No fire explodes out towards the pinkette. Instead, Sasuke aims a vicious kick to Haruno’s chest. Well. Taijutsu was always her weakest area. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Only, Haruno doesn’t even seem fazed by it. She pushes it aside with her arm like the hit was nothing. Within seconds it’s clear both are holding back. Sticking with Taijutsu. Strange. Sasuke is good at it, but it’s his ninjutsu that’s truly a force to be reckoned with. Whatever Haruno can do now, she’s not showing them today. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The fight is longer than the others, by far. Longer than most Taijutsu battles ever go. Haruno is matching Sasuke blow for blow and Katsumi wants to snap at him that he can’t win with Taijutsu alone. Especially since he’s not using his sharingan. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sensei, why won’t Sasuke use anything but Taijutsu?” Katsumi twists around to stare at Kakashi-Sensei. He looks unsurprised by what’s happening. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I told him not to. That mark on his neck? It’s poisoning his chakra. He can’t use chakra right now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She stares at him in disbelief. Can’t. Sasuke can’t use chakra right now. This is bad. Haruno absolutely can use chakra. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Suddenly, Katsumi isn’t sure she’d bet on Sasuke. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She turns back to the fight, hands gripping hard around the railing. Kunai are out now and it’s not Sasuke who draws first blood. Haruno manages to slice him straight across the arm and chest. Blood drips onto the floor and Katsumi bares her teeth in worry. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the black marks start to spread across Sasuke’s face in response, Katsumi is utterly terrified. If that mark is poisoning him, there’s no way it’s safe for him to do that. Whatever it is he’s doing. Haruno seems to decide she doesn’t want to be near him anymore and jumps back to put space between them, face entirely blank, and makes a handseal Katsumi doesn’t recognize. Sensei must though. He inhales sharply behind her at the sight of it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sensei?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Watch.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">What Katsumi sees next shocks her. What looks like tree trunks explode out of the floor and slams Sasuke against the wall before he can do anything. There is no way that’s possible. It can’t be. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sensei? Is that what I think it is?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You know, I can’t really say.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi understands immediately. Haruno has the mokuton. They aren’t supposed to know and Haruno just showed everyone. Foreign nin included. Katsumi is sure that wasn’t something she was supposed to do. Katsumi has so many questions. The girl is a civilian born. It shouldn’t be possible. And yet. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches as the wood flings Sasuke against the opposite wall like a rag doll. She doesn’t know if he realizes it, but she is certain the fight is as good as over. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Haruno slams him against the wall a third time, Sasuke clearly slips into unconsciousness, the marks retreating. Katsumi watches the wood retreat back into the ground like it was never there. Haruno shows no emotion as her win is declared. The entire room is utterly silent as Sasuke is removed and she returns to her Sensei. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei taps Katsumi and Naruto on the elbows lightly, “I’m afraid I need to go do something, I’m sorry but I may have to miss your matches.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto whines his disappointment, but Katsumi hardly notices her Sensei slip out of the building. Too focused on Haruno and what she did to really care. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hardly notices when the board spits out two more names: Rock Lee vs Gaara. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally, she pulls her gaze down to see a miniature Gai-San standing across from the Suna shinobi with empty eyes. She has a terrible feeling about this. Whatever happens next, Katsumi isn’t sure she wants to witness it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s right. The fight is a different level from the other ones. The Suna shinobi uses sand like an extra limb. And he’s brutal. For awhile, Lee is doing well. Looks like he’s winning. The sand just can’t keep up and Gaara doesn’t seem to have any other abilities beyond using the sand. Then Gaara crushes Lee’s right arm and leg. And it is awful. There’s blood and sand everywhere and screaming and the awful crunching sound of bones being destroyed. Gai-San interferes before Gaara can kill his student, but the damage has been done. Katsumi takes one look at Lee and wonders how he’ll be able to walk again much less be a shinobi. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru swears at the sight before reaching out and grabbing her wrist. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi, if you make it through to the final round, forfeit if you have to face him. Don’t even enter the arena with him.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I don’t want to.” It’s the absolute truth. Katsumi knows her limits. And this Gaara is so far above her head it would be suicide to even try. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Satisfied, he lets her go. Once again the arena is silent as they watch Lee get carried away by the medics. Only this time it’s horror not shock that silences them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The board selects again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nara Shikamaru versus Abumi Zaku. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When a truly dark smirk passes over Shikamaru’s face, Katsumi is thrown off, until she sees his opponent. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s the boy who choked her. Both arms in slings from Sasuke’s dislocation of them and she’s willing to bet by his slower movements that her water shrapnel did him far more damage than it did his teammate. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru doesn’t look lazy or disinterested at all. His eyes are focused unwaveringly on Zaku. She knows that look. He’s already thought out exactly how to win. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s the shortest match yet. No more than two minutes at most. As soon as Gekko says begin, Shikamaru’s shadow is launching out at Zaku, faster than she ever thought possible. Too fast for the Oto nin to avoid. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru doesn’t stop there. He runs through more handseals and does something she’s never seen before. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shadow strangle jutsu.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His voice is ice cold as a shadowy hand begins to work its way up to Zaku’s neck and tightens slowly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I haven’t actually mastered this technique yet, you know. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that I accidentally snap your neck.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi feels a chill go down her neck at the absolute menace in his voice. He sounds like he actually hopes he does that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She watches as the boy visibly struggles for breath. He’s unable to even say the word “forfeit” due to the sheer pressure being applied to his neck. Shikamaru doesn’t let up until the boy passes out. When he releases the jutsu, there a bruise in the shape of a handprint forming around his neck. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Winner: Nara Shikamaru.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Damn, Shikamaru is way scarier than I thought.” Naruto’s eyes are wide as saucers as he stares at the Nara. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru ambles back up the stairs like nothing happened, but there’s a distinct air of satisfaction about him and when he passes her, he tugs her ponytail once. She knows instantly why he did that. Zaku choked her, so Shikamaru paid him back in kind. How poetic. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she looks at the board she feels her heart rate increase. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ishihara Katsumi versus Temari. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi launches herself down into the arena, more than ready to get this over with. The Suna Kunoichi across from her looks arrogant. Looks like she needs to be taken down a peg or three. Katsumi is happy to do that for her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is careful to hide her injured ribs. No need for the girl to see her weakness. She looks her over carefully. The giant fan on her back tells her everything. The girl is a long distance fighter. Probably uses wind. So Katsumi’s mist is next to useless in this fight. Pity. She likes using it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wonders how this girl will do against her swords. All she needs is one good cut. The paralytic on the blade will do the rest. But she has to get close enough. That’s going to be the trick. No long distance fighter is willing to give up their rather large personal bubble if they can help it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Begin.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Near useless or not, The mist might give her a second to get in range. It’s a gamble, but it’s the best she has at the moment. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It works well enough. Katsumi moves quick and silent to the side of her opponent. This girl isn’t going to put up with the mist for long and she needs to be close and not in the way of that fan. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sure enough, a strong gust of wind blows her mist away with no trouble. Even out of its way, the wind cuts little scratches across her face. The girl opens her mouth to say something at the same time Katsumi launches herself at her, Wakizashi drawn. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Temari’s good, though. Hardly needs a moment to react and send her flying back through the air with another gust of wind. Katsumi manages to twist herself midair and land neatly on the ground, chakra softening the landing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You see the moon on my fan? When you see all three, you lose, little girl.” She can hear the humor in the girl’s voice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Three moons. Well, it’s kind of her to tell her when she needs to win by. Katsumi has always liked clear goals. She can work with this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s going to hate herself later for the plan she’s forming, but beggars can’t be choosers. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Gritting her teeth, she sticks her feet to the floor for purchase against the wind she knows will be coming and runs straight at the girl. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sure enough, the second moon appears and she’s thrown back harder. Not before driving her sword into the dirt Haruno’s wood release threw up when she used it, though. She lets herself get thrown against the wall and lays there limp for a moment. Watches through her eyelashes as Temari laughs at her and turns to tell the proctor to call the match. Closes her fan as if it’s already over. Takes her eyes off Katsumi. Arrogance is never a good thing to take to a fight. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She forms the seal she needs quickly. In the blink of an eye she’s switched places with her Wakizashi, and manages to drag her katana out and across the kunoichi’s shoulder blade down to her elbow in the moments it takes for her to react. The fan opens again. All the way to three moons and Katsumi knows this is going to hurt so much. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s right. The wind throws her up into the air, so very high. It cuts her all over her exposed face and forearms and when she hits the ground she feels her rib break again. Dammit. But she’s not unconscious and she’s still able to move. She rolls into a kneeling position and grins at the girl even as she holds her ribs in pain. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why are you smiling?” Temari has the fan cocked back, ready to fling her again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Because I’ve already won.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That gets her thrown into the wall behind her. Another rib snaps. Ow. She forces herself up though, doesn’t lose her grin, teeth fully on display. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can see the moment the paralytic takes hold. Temari’s arms go limp and the fan falls from her hands. She watches as Temari’s eyes go wide and her legs give out. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Poison.” Is the only word she gets out, shock evident in her voice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right in one. A paralytic to be exact. Should wear off in an hour.” Explains Katsumi as she stands up, swaying as she does and goes to fetch her swords. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The match is called, and medics rush the arena. A whole team go to Temari and lift her onto a stretcher. Two come to her and make her come with them to treat her broken ribs. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neither are happy with her, but Katsumi doesn’t care. She won. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0055"><h2>55. Chapter 55</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is still in the hospital getting her ribs fixed again, when Shikamaru finds her. His eyes flick to where the medic is working on her for a moment, but he seems far calmer than he has since the forest. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto made it through. Choji didn’t. Shino made it too.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Do we know who’s facing who next month?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru rubs the back of his neck and gives her a rueful smile, “Naruto and Neji, Gaara and Shino. Ino and Kankurō. Sakura and that Oto nin Dosu. And you and me.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi studies him. So she has to fight Shikamaru. At least she knows he won’t kill her. It’s going to be a pain to beat him though. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m not going to go easy you,” she smiles at him and hops off the table as the medic finishes healing her ribs as much as they can. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Troublesome, but I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Shikamaru just shakes his head and falls into step beside her as they leave. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Where’s Naruto?” Katsumi has questions about the red eyes she saw in the forest. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ichiraku’s probably. I think Iruka-sensei promised him all he could eat if he won.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“His wallets going to be hurting tonight.” Katsumi sighs, she doesn’t want to ask Naruto in front of people, it’s a private discussion. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru snorts at that, “Okaa-San is making dinner tonight. You should come over. Have something other than fried rice for once.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi rolls her eyes at the dig at her and her tou-san’s limited cooking abilities, but agrees. No one in their right mind would refuse Yoshino-san’s cooking. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru walks with her most of the way to her home before heading to the Nara compound. Katsumi is so ready to change out of the clothes Temari’s wind tore apart. She also really wants to tell Tou-san everything that happened. Things may be tense between them since she learned of the Ishihara clan, but she still craves his approval. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-San is at the kitchen table, reading over a file, when she walks in. He glances up and looks her over with a critical eye when he sees her.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“How was the second test?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I just spent a week in the forest of death. Broke a rib and cracked a few more, got a concussion, nearly fell to my death. Oh and someone named Orochimaru gave Sasuke a tattoo.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi says all this as she pours a glass of water, as if it’s completely normal. As if she didn’t think she was going to die. She doesn’t miss the strange look that crosses Tou-san’s face when she says “Orochimaru” but doesn’t comment. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I see. Have you had your ribs treated?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah. Twice. First after the forest of death, then after I broke two of them again in the preliminaries. Also Naruto’s eyes turned red in the Forest of Death.” Katsumi watches her tou-San carefully when she says the last part. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Red.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Mhm. Red. Of course, I had just taken a nasty hit to the head, so I’m not sure if I was hallucinating or not.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-San’s hand tightens around papers before relaxing. His voice is perfectly bland when he responds. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Likely just imagined it. Head wounds can cause all sorts of funny side effects. Are you going to be in the finals?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi takes a sip of water and files that reaction away for later, “Yeah, had to beat a Sand Kunoichi to get there. I’m facing Shikamaru.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ah, the Nara boy. He knows all your tricks, doesn’t he?” Tou-San muses thoughtfully. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And I know most of his. I’m going to need practice at long range fights.” If she wants to win against Shikamaru, she already knows she has to keep away from his shadow.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hmm, is there any long distance jutsu in the Ishihara scrolls?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“One. It would take nearly three quarters of my reserves though and I need a water source for it. Unless it rains, I won’t have a way of using it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If he’s anything like his father, he’s going to treat it like a game of shogi. You have to play it like that too, if you want to win.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lovely. She’s never once beaten Shikamaru in a Strategy game. Ever. Now she has a month to figure out how. She’ll worry about that tomorrow. She has a shower with her name on it and Yoshino-san’s cooking waiting for her today. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0056"><h2>56. Chapter 56</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next day, Katsumi tracks down Kakashi-Sensei to get help finding a long range jutsu she can actually use. He hems and haws and finally promises to find her something when he has time. Katsumi wants to stamp her foot in frustration. It took her nearly three weeks to master the water shrapnel jutsu. She has a month to find and master an entirely new one. She doesn’t have time to wait. Katsumi knows she’s already panicking a little bit it’s Shikamaru. If she can’t pull something unexpected out, he will beat her in a heartbeat. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So she hunts down Genma-San. She figures if she can finally master senbon needles that might make a good fall back option. Genma-San isn’t thrilled to see her. Apparently it’s his day off and he’s spending it with Raidou-San. Though why he’s shirtless is a bit of a mystery to Katsumi. He tells her to ask him some other time. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Okay then. Time to go find Anko-San. She’s scary. That means she’ll probably have a good idea. Anko-san just laughs at her when she finds the woman at the Dango shop. Apparently anyone who was or is a proctor in the Exams can’t help her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Disappointing, but that’s fine. She can’t ask any of the Sensei because they have their students. And all proctors are off limits. Kakashi-sensei is busy and Genma-San is doing... whatever it is he was doing.Tou-san might not sent out of the village again until the exams are over, but she still can’t find him most days. So. Library it is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi gets there an is immediately unimpressed with what she finds. She’s restricted to genin level clearance which is practically nothing. There’s not a single elemental jutsu above c-rank in it. Most of them being fire jutsu too. Perks of living in the Land of Fire. So she looks at the genjutsu scrolls. She has passable chakra control. Maybe she could do a simple one. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She flicks through scroll after scroll looking for one she thinks she could do that might actually fool Shikamaru. Katsumi stops on one that would work well with her current method of stealth and Ambushing. The Shadow swell jutsu. And oh is Katsumi intrigued. It’s simple enough, and affects a person’s eyes. It makes them think it’s far darker than it really is, renders them blind almost. Katsumi wonders if Shikamaru would fall for it. She sets it off to the side and keeps searching. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she finds no other genjutsu, she starts looking for other ideas. The more options she has the better. She spends an hour searching for information on gaseous poisons. Something nonlethal. The problem is she risks poisoning herself as much as poisoning Shikamaru if the wind changes. She would be mortified if that happened. So she abandons that line of research. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Frustrated, Katsumi pulls out a loose sheet of paper and makes a list of what she can do. It’s irritatingly short. Henge. Basic clone. Kawarimi. Kenjutsu. Basic poison. Hiding in the mist technique. Water shrapnel technique. Augment her hearing with Chakra. Stealth. Katsumi stares at the pitifully short list in frustration. She’s not sure how she made it this far with so little. She needs something else. Something Shikamaru doesn’t already know about. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has no idea if her mist would work against him. Doesn’t have the faintest idea if he would be able to use his shadow possession jutsu on her if he can’t actually see her shadow. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can’t get close enough to use her kenjutsu unless she wants to get caught. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru knows she likes to poison her sword blades. It won’t be a stretch for him to assume any kunai or shuriken or senbon she throws would be poisoned. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He won’t fall for the kawarimi trick she pulled against Temari. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Water Shrapnel could actually kill someone and she really, really doesn’t want to kill him or any of their comrades. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His chakra reserves are larger than hers, but his shadow possession takes more chakra. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi bares her teeth in frustration. Trying to outlast him isn’t something she wants to do. It could actually take hours if she did that. And the longer they take, the better the odds he outsmarts her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kami, This fight is going to be the equivalent of playing shogi against Shikamaru when she only has pawns. What a mess. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0057"><h2>57. Chapter 57</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi ends up sitting in front of her shogi board for three days, trying to play it like she’s Shikamaru. Trying to think like Shikamaru. It’s... not going well. Even with years of learning strategy from Shikaku-san and Shikamaru, she just can’t think far enough ahead. She’s fully aware she’s only eaten and drank the bare minimum to keep herself functioning and hasn’t slept since beginning this and also really needs a shower, but she has to figure out how he thinks. If she wants to beat him, she has to be able to predict his moves. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alright. That’s enough of that.” When Tou-san picks the entire shogi board up and walks away with it, Katsumi stares at the spot it was sitting in for a moment, dumbfounded. Doesn’t he understand how important this is? Does he not want her to win? To be promoted? </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Apparently she said all of that out loud, because she gets a derisive snort and an answer, “Yes, I understand how important it is. Yes, I want to see you win, and yes, I want you to get promoted. I do not want you to loose your mind however. I do not want you to stop taking care of yourself. Those things won’t get you a promotion.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I have no idea how to beat him. I need to figure this out.” Katsumi glares up at Tou-San petulantly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re primarily a close combat fighter with an emphasis of stealth and ambush. He’s a tactician who’s genin team formation is well known for capture and interrogation. He’s going to be trying to capture you. Make that more trouble than its worth.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s it? That’s your advice? Make it too much effort to win?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Look, unless he has a bone to pick with you, he’s not going to want to put in the effort needed to go all out if you make it difficult enough. It’s a Nara thing.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi stares up at Tou-San for a moment. Trying to process that advice. So outlast? The thing she doesn’t want to do? No. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, while you think about that, you can go bathe and take a nap, you look like you’re coming off a stint in T&amp;I.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Now, Katsumi.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi rolls her eyes, but obeys. Naps are always nice. And she really does need a bath. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wakes up to Naruto banging on her door and yelling the next day. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi-Chan! Wake up! I met a Pervy sage and he’s gonna teach me really awesome jutsu, dattebayo!!” Naruto’s voice is loud and excited and Katsumi has no idea what in the world a “pervy sage” is. She really hopes he didn’t accidentally buy a prostitute. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With a groan, she rolls of the bed and catches herself before she lands face first. She’s still a bit out of it from the three day shogi marathon, but she’s not seeing shogi pieces everywhere anymore so that’s something. She opens her door, walks out into the living room and watches bemused as Naruto bounces all over the room chattering on about how Kakashi-Sensei told him he wouldn’t be able to help him train for a few days and gave him to a different pervert and how he ditched that one for a “pervy Sage”. Katsumi is deeply concerned by the apparent amount of perverts in the village.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto, why are you spending time with perverts? Isn’t Kakashi-sensei perverted enough with that porn book of his? Are you sure this “pervy sage” can’t actually teach you anything?” Katsumi can feel a headache building. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“His name is Jiraiya, dattebayo! He’s a Sannin!” Naruto looks thrilled, but Katsumi wonders if he even knows what a Sannin is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And what is he going to teach you?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“A really awesome jutsu, </span>dattebayo!”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Uh Huh. Right. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, that’s awesome, Naruto. Um before you go learn that awesome Justu, can I’m ask you something?” Katsumi figures this is as good a time as any to ask him about the eye thing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He tilts his head slightly, it reminds her of a canine really, and nods at her, “Sure, Katsumi-Chan!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Great. Um, Back in the Forest, when Orochimaru was attacking us, after I got thrown into the tree, I saw you fighting him. And your eyes were red? I didn’t know you had a dojutsu?” Katsumi’s running theory is he’s a clan kid from some obscure clan and just doesn’t know it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh um. I don’t have a dojutsu, dattebayo,” he squints at her the way he does when he’s uncomfortable. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So why were they red?” Katsumi wants answers and she wants them today. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Trick of the light, dattebayo! Anyway I gotta go find pervy Sage! And Sasuke’s wake in the hospital if you wanna visit him! Bye!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto practically flees from her home. Her boys are terrible at hiding things. As soon as she figures out how to win against Shikamaru, she’ll unravel whatever is going on with Naruto. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke is awake though. Which means they can visit him now. Finally. Katsumi perks up at the thought. She wants to see how he’s doing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She skips getting him flowers on the way to the hospital. She’s watched him light unwanted flowers on fire and she’s fairly certain all flowers are unwanted to him. The receptionist doesn’t seem to believe her when she says she’s Sasuke’s teammate and it takes a good ten minutes of back and forth before she gives her the room number. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she arrives to his room, it’s clear he’s not happy. He’s sitting up in the bed, and glaring down at his hands. Katsumi is quietly surprised he’s not exhaling smoke again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey Sasuke! Are you feeling better? I know it’s-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shut up, Katsumi.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her mouth snaps shut at the utterly cold voice he used. She hasn’t heard him so dismissive of her in months. It’s worrying. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I said, shut up! I lost! To Sakura! That Pink haired weakling! Don’t you get it? You and Naruto both won against your opponents and I got knocked out by fucking Sakura!” When he turns his Sharingan on her, Katsumi bares her teeth back. She knows a threat when she sees one, and an Uchiha making direct eye contact with the sharingan active? That’s a threat. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You couldn’t use your Chakra. And she has the Mokuton. Somehow. Shit happens, Sasuke. You’re a good shinobi. A strong one. With time, you’ll only get stronger, we all will!” Katsumi knows he wants to get strong, wants to be the best. She wants to see him succeed as much as she wants to see Naruto get the Hat. His rage worries her though. She’d thought he was doing better. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can’t wait that long! I need to be stronger now!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I get it, but that takes time, Sasuke. I’m not sure what you expect me or anyone else to do about that.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hn.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi glares at his head when he looks away. So he’s back to that. Katsumi wants to shake him until he gets over his issues. She thinks he’d set her hair on fire if she tried though. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’ll get stronger, Sasuke. This is just a minor setback. I think You want to be alone right now. I’ll come by again later.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi slips out of his room silently. She loves Sasuke, he’s her teammate and friend, but she refuses to be yelled at by him. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0058"><h2>58. Chapter 58</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi leaves Sasuke alone after that. She has too much to do in preparation of the finals and he doesn’t want to listen to her. Naruto has disappeared off with the “Pervy Sage” and while Katsumi is mildly worried it’s a real pervert and not the Sannin, she figures Naruto can always blow them up if he needs to. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Besides, Kakashi-sensei has dealt with whatever business he had and has dragged her off to the training ground for “speed and evasion” training. Katsumi is almost certain she’s going to hate this, however useful it’s going to be. All of Sensei’s more... intense training makes her feel like she’s going to die of exhaustion. Or embarrassment. Or both. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alright, Katsumi-Chan! You are going to learn to dodge everything. While not looking up from the ground. Oh and while wearing these.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The weights he tosses at her feet leave a small dent in the earth and Katsumi stares in disbelief at them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Um. Sensei? How heavy are those?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ahh maybe forty pounds? Per leg. They are going to be your new best friends for the next three weeks!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi was hoping for a new jutsu when she asked Kakashi-sensei for help a week ago. Not this. This looks and sounds like a new form of torture. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well? Put them on.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">At the mild killing intent Sensei releases, Katsumi obeys immediately. The weights make it so hard to move her legs and she knows with deep, deep resignation that she’s going to have a terrible time. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sensei eye smiles at her once the weights are on her legs and the killing intent vanishes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Eyes on the ground now. Feel free to augment your hearing.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t need to be told twice. She increases it enough to hear her Sensei’s steady heartbeat in front of her and the rustle of small animals in the trees around her. Hopefully he doesn’t use any explosives, she really doesn’t want to be deaf after this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Now, get ready to move.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The first Kunai is aimed right at her left foot. Lobbed more than thrown thankfully, because moving out of the way with an extra eighty pounds weighing her down is practically impossible. She’s willing to bet her swords that he got this idea from Gai-San. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next cuts close to her ear, and she has to jerked her head to the side to avoid loosing the top of her ear. Katsumi hates this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It only takes five times before the first Kunai cuts across her thigh and she hisses out a breath in pain. Rude Sensei. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It goes on for hours, before Kakashi-Sensei calls it quits. Katsumi’s legs are burning and feel like someone has filled them with cement. She’s sweaty and panting and covered in little cuts from the Kunai she couldn’t avoid. Katsumi wonders if this is actually revenge for yelling about not training them months ago. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, Maa that’s good for today. Be here at seven tomorrow morning and we’ll go again. Don’t lose the weights!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches as he shushins away, too busy trying to breath to say anything back. She ends up collapsing back onto the grass. Sensei is going to be the death of her. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0059"><h2>59. Chapter 59</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Regardless of how awful the training is, Katsumi sees results. Enough so that when the weights finally come off four days before the exams, she feels like she’s flying as she practically dances around the Kunai thrown at her, mostly at her feet and lower body, but occasionally in the midst of having to dodge those, she has to dodge ones aimed at her arms and head. Kakashi-Sensei seems pleased with the results too. Giving her a head pat at the end of each session. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he’s satisfied with her progress, he shifts course abruptly. Justifies the change in two ways. First, he says she needs to be able to identify comrades when she’s fighting blind in her mist. Heart beats are only good for telling her someone is there. Not who they are. And second, she needs to let her body rest for the upcoming match. So he has her learning to augment her sense of smell alongside her hearing for three days. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She quickly decides she hates it. Focusing on two of her senses at once makes it difficult to think from all the information she gets from it. And an enhanced sense of smell makes everything reek. If Sensei uses an enhanced sense of smell, she gets the mask entirely. She’d never realized how much smell there was before. From everything and everyone. Constantly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She sees the benefit, but she doesn’t see why this can’t wait until after the exams. She’s only fighting one person at a time. She doesn’t need to be able to smell and hear Shikamaru to fight him. Sensei is adamant that she learns though. So she does. Sensei smells mostly like metal and blood and leaves. Most Konoha shinobi seem to smell like that. There’s small variances, like Anko-San has a bit of a snake smell to her too and Tou-San has a faint smell of rain to him, but the differences are faint. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei tells her to remember that smell. To remember comrades are leaves and metal and blood. To remember anyone missing metal and blood is probably a civilian and anyone missing the smell of leaves is probably not a comrade. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi wonders if she smells like that. Kakashi-sensei eye smiles when she asks and tells her yes. With a bit of seawater and flowers too. Nothing strong though. She should switch to non-scented shampoo though, eliminate the flowers, but most won’t notice the seawater smell anyway so don’t worry about that one.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she asks why it couldn’t wait until after the exams, Kakashi-sensei just shrugs and tells her they might as well get a start on it. Katsumi thinks it’s odd, but it should be useful one day, so doesn’t complain. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi wonders what Naruto and Sasuke smell like. She hasn’t seen them all month though. Sasuke has holed himself up in the Uchiha compound and refuses to talk to anyone. Naruto’s in the hospital out cold from chakra exhaustion from whatever training the Sannin (who actually was a Sannin, not just a random pervert) gave him. Hopefully he wakes up in time for the exam. She doesn’t want to be the only member of team seven competing. She’s not even sure if Sasuke will be there to support them with the way he’s acting. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-San has been extra twitchy over the course of the month. It’s like the times he gets home from longer lasting missions. Like he’s waiting for someone to attack him. Katsumi actually had to dodge a kunai when she closed a door too loudly and he wasn’t paying attention. He’d apologized but ever since, Katsumi has been noticing a lot of the older shinobi seem on edge. It’s strange and Katsumi doesn’t understand. She knows now that the Orochimaru guy from the Forest of Death was the Sannin who turned traitor and knows the Chuunin exams are a massive security issue, but this seems a bit extreme. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It leaves her with a feeling of unease. Enough so, that she makes sure she has her anticoagulant poison in her pack beside the paralytic. Katsumi isn’t sure what’s happening, but that dark part of her mind is coiled in anticipation. It feels like waiting for a storm to hit. A really, really nasty one. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0060"><h2>60. Chapter 60</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The morning of the final rounds, Katsumi is a bundle of nerves and not just from anticipation of fighting Shikamaru. The shinobi around her all seem on edge and it’s rubbed off onto her. The result is she prepares like its war. Prepares even more throughly than she did for Kakashi-Sensei’s bell test. She’s not sure what it is she’s getting ready for, but she’s not entirely convinced it’s a simple match. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tou-San is already gone when she goes to leave, but he promised her he’d be watching the match. She supposes that’s the best she can hope for. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The village is buzzing with excitement as she heads towards the arena. So many people talking about the matches. She can hear people making bets on who will win, giving their opinions of everyone who made it this far. Katsumi wonders at that, only a handful of people outside of the ones who actually fought in the preliminaries actually have an idea of the skill sets of the remaining genin. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is one of the first to arrive and sign in. She’s ushered up to a viewing area that’s reserved for the competitors. Not even the jounin sensei are allowed in. Katsumi glances over the other genin who are there. Haruno has the same blank face as always. Aburame is staring out at the arena seats, probably watching them slowly fill. The only other one here already is Hyuuga, who barely spares her a glance when she walks in. No one is speaking to each other. Everyone seemingly content to look over the arena they’ll be fighting in. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s big. A lot bigger than the one in the preliminaries. There’s a small grouping of trees on one end, but other than that it’s bare. No water, just dirt and grass. Katsumi stretches out her chakra to search out water in the air. It’s been cloudier lately, more humid. Like rain is coming in the next few days or so. Katsumi has to resist smiling when she feels how heavy the air is with water. The arena may be barren of water, but the weather is in her favor today. Good. She needs that.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ino arrives next and saunters over to her, but not without casting a glance at Haruno. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, Ishihara? You going to meet me in the final round?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So confident. Katsumi has always appreciated that in Ino. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Only if you make it there with me.” She smiles a little so Ino knows she’s just playing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Suna ninja enter next and instantly the atmosphere becomes oppressive. Ever since that Gaara kid nearly killed Rock Lee, everyone has been wary of him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s nearly time to start when Shikamaru and Naruto walk in and come over to stand beside Katsumi and Ino. A united front even if they’re opponents today. Naruto keeps sending Neji dirty looks, and Katsumi knows that Naruto is going to try blowing him up at least once. Shikamaru tugs her ponytail lightly and leans down. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Better make this interesting, Ishihara. Looks like a big crowd today.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ah, Shikamaru. Is fighting me not a drag?” She glances up at him and grins teasingly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Troublesome woman.” Shikamaru just shakes his head at her as he says it, eyes moving lazily over the arena below them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s eyes flick up to the stands, she can see Kakashi-Sensei standing with Gai-San. She spots Choji sitting with his family. The Nara’s are near by too. She can’t see her Tou-San though. Doesn’t see Sasuke either. Disappointing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The Oto shinobi, Dosu, I think, is missing.” It’s Ino who points it out. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi wonders where he is. Quietly hopes he misses his match and has to forfeit. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Pity.” Shikamaru looks entirely disinterested as he says it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches as the proctor walks out into the Arena. It’s not Gekko. Strange. It’s Genma-San and he doesn’t look thrilled to be out there. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t bother listening to the Hokage’s welcoming speech. She doesn’t really care much about it. Probably just a bunch of political nonsense. Nothing that interests her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She listens as Naruto and Neji are called down for the first match. Naruto looks like he has half a mind to throw himself out of the viewing area down to the arena. It’s at least ten meters up so she wouldn’t put it past him. Neji on the other hand calmly walks down. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto doesn’t bother with traps at all. She privately thinks that’s a mistake. It’s his speciality after all. Though he does try to blow Neji up, as expected. Twice actually. Then Neji closes his tenketsu points and Katsumi figures Naruto’s lost. No chakra, no fight. Naruto doesn’t think so though. Words are exchanged though she can’t make them out without augmenting her hearing, and Neji reveals a seal right across his forehead. She has no idea what it does, but he seems resentful of it. Katsumi watches as Naruto struggles to summon his chakra. She doesn’t see the point. He can’t access it until the tenketsu points reopen. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s shocked when she feels the same malevolent energy as she did at the bridge in Wave Country flood the air. Whatever that is, it isn’t a fluke. She wonders, distantly, if his eyes are red now. Maybe those things are connected. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Naruto wins, by knocking Neji unconscious after tunneling through the ground, Katsumi is thrilled. First match is a team seven victory. Sasuke might not be here to see it, but Katsumi claps loudly. Her idiot blonde just won against someone everyone thought of as a genius. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Things are strange when the Oto nin is still missing. Haruno wins by default. Things get more strange when Kankurō forfeits and leaves Ino another default winner. Katsumi can feel the unease grow in the crowd. Irritated civilians boo, but the shinobi are just shifting and subtly looking around. Katsumi gets the feeling this isn’t normal. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Regardless, Genma-San is calling her and Shikamaru down for their match and Katsumi pushes the unease from her mind. They walk down and into the arena together. Anticipation filling the space between them. They’ve never really spared each other before. Oh they’ve trained together and he’s practiced his shadow possession jutsu on her, but that was hardly anything compared to this. This feels more real. More serious. Katsumi is looking forward to it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They stand across from each other, about five meters separating them. Shikamaru’s stance is lazy, but she can see his attention is entirely focused on her. Like he’s already anticipating her first move. Just like Shogi. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi bares her teeth at him as she waits for Genma-San to call start. Shikamaru’s eyes sharpen even more when she does that. The only person other than her Tou-San who doesn’t react at all nervous when she does that. Even Naruto and Sasuke twitch a little when she aims that expression at them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi can feel the water in the air, has already augmented her hearing, her sense of smell in preparation. Shikamaru’s heartbeat is steady but fast. He’s excited despite his lazy exterior. Metal and blood and leaves and something she can’t place yet. Good. She won’t loose track of where he is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the match starts, she makes the first move. An obvious one, but well, she’s willing to gamble on him not being able to catch her if he can’t see her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The mist is heavy and thick and Katsumi hears his heartbeat pick up slightly as he’s blinded. She moves. Fast as Kakashi-sensei made her, and silent as Genma-San taught her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She draws a Kunai, intending on a quick knock out, it surprises her when it’s met by a kunai of Shikamaru’s. She doesn’t stay to see if he can catch her now. She darts back into the depths of the mist. It’s unnerving to realize he either predicted that move or he’s some how able to sense her movements. As far as she knows he’s not a sensor, but if he were, she supposes it would explain things. She palms a weak exploding tag. Let’s see what happens. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She ties it to her Kunai and lets it fly. It will dissipate some of the mist but, if he can’t see it he may not be able to get out of the range. It’s weak, closer to a flash bang really. Designed to stun. She deafens herself just before triggering it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The mist clears and he’s managed to jump just out of the range of the tag. He looks mildly surprised and definitely a bit ruffled but otherwise fine. He even raises an eyebrow at her incredulously. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She bares her teeth in response and increases her hearing again. His heart beat hasn’t changed. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi knows the moment he decides he’s not going to play defense anymore. His eyes darken and he looks threatening for a moment. She tenses ready to move. She figures he’s going to try to drive her into the shadows of the arena. Make it easier to catch her. So, that leaves her stuck in the middle. Can’t use the trees to hide in either. Have to avoid Naruto’s tunnel too. That leaves her with a very limited area of movement. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It leaves her with limited options. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When his shadow stretches out she’s ready. It’s moving fast. As fast as when he fought Zaku. She’s further away though and she has just enough time to move. Dancing away from it quick and easy just like Kakashi-Sensei’s Kunai. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She dances around it, all the while trying to get closer to him. It’s a tricky thing. One foot wrong and she’s lost. Has to keep an eye on her shadow and his as she moves. She ends up having to Kawarimi with a branch when she doesn’t think she can avoid it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The shade of the trees is not good. Gives him too much to work with. She’s closer to him now, but in a bad position. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She snarls under her breath and puts a few explosive tags on the tree she’s in. If he tries to follow her into the trees, she can kawarimi with the branch again and trigger them. She doesn’t use explosive tags often, but Naruto likes them. It’s rubbed off on her somewhat. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru seems content to wait for her to make a move. Doesn’t come closer to her, doesn’t try to stretch his shadow out to catch her. This whole thing is a shogi match. He’s just waiting for her next move. How patient of him. She palms a pair of smoke bombs for a moment and one more explosive tag. She wonders how quickly he’ll get sick of explosives. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She thinks of how the Oto Kunoichi threw senbon. How some had bells and some didn’t. A way to distract from the bell-less ones. Maybe something similar will work the same way here. She needs to add paralytic to a few Kunai though. And she isn’t sure he’ll let her have that long. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She lets fly a kunai with a smoke bomb. Following it a second later with an explosive tag. Aimed to force him back near the branch she switched with. If she can get him there. She may be able to end the match. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She uses the precious seconds she’s won to coat three kunai with her paralytic. Just one is all she needs. She listens to his movements. His heart rate spiking as he moves away from the explosion. Just far enough from her to only make her ears ring a little. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the smoke clears she feels a spike of frustration. He’s further from her, but also further from the branch. Damn. Of course he saw through that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He looks amused really. Like he thinks it was a cute attempt. Stupid Nara. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Regardless she swallows her annoyance, and kawarimi’s a second time with the branch. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lobbing a kunai with an explosive tag at him and another to the right of him, the moment she’s in place. He looks mildly put out as he dodges them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t wait for him to hit the ground, for the second time she pulls mist down, and lets six kunai fly in the direction of his heart beat. Two poisoned. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hears them connect with something hard and knows he’s not where she wants him to be. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She releases the mist, his heartbeat is further away. In the trees. So. Those explosive tags she left may pay off. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She eyes the large branch he switched with in consideration. She has to get a bit closer to detonate the tags, but that branch is too close for comfort. He’ll use that for his escape route. She’ll be in his range no matter where she goes if she wants to set the tags off. She’s sure he knows it. She’s not looking to outrun his shadow again. Too risky. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can’t detonate the tags and he can’t leave those trees without her making a move. They’re at a stalemate. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s certain he’s planning up there. Not something she really wants happening. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi eyes the branch for a moment. She needs to interrupt his planning. Needs to do it without getting caught. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Three meters. As long as he’s not within three meters, it won’t do much. Startle him, sure. Draw a little blood, probably. But it won’t be bad. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She moves silently forward. Makes sure she’s in range of the tags and that his escape route is just out of range of her jutsu. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She has to do this quickly. Has to have the jutsu prepped as soon as he switches. If she doesn’t, she’s finished. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She triggers the tags. As soon as she does she flies through the hand seals. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Dog. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She holds for just a moment on the final seal. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru appears looking less than thrilled. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Water explodes out and Katsumi watches him jump back. There’s a few shallow cuts on his exposed arms but nothing worth paying attention too. She doesn’t give him a chance to form the handseals for his jutsu. Pulling her Wakizashi she darts forward. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s not poisoned but the kunai she has in her other hand is. Dual wielding with a kunai instead of her Katana is awkward. But she only needs one cut. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He doesn’t let her get that though. She looses sight of her position for a moment. Doesn’t notice she’s moving too close to the shadows of the arena wall as she’s trying to catch him with the Kunai. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he jumps clear of her range into the shadows behind him already forming the handseals, it’s too late to correct the mistake. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t have time to dodge before his shadow catches hers. She feels her muscles straining against the hold and bares her teeth. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shadow possession complete.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She has no moves she can make now. From the smirk on his face, she can tell he knows it too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi snarls but speaks a single word. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Forfeit.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Instantly the shadows pull back and she can move again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Winner: Nara Shikamaru.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru walks over to her and gives her a lazy grin. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not quite what I was expecting from you, but I did say to make it interesting.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi grins back as they walk out of the arena together. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Better kick ass the next round, Nara. I’m expecting to see you in a flak jacket after today.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru just snorts at that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi isn’t that disappointed about loosing. It was a fun match. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0061"><h2>61. Chapter 61</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Since Katsumi lost, she can’t go back up to the competitor’s viewing area with Shikamaru. Disappointing, but she figures she can go find Kakashi-Sensei. She really isn’t sure she even wants to witness Aburame fight Gaara. She doesn’t want to see another comrade get broken the way Rock Lee was. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So before searching out Kakashi-sensei, Katsumi decides to go to the bathroom and rinse some of the dirt off her hands and arms. Maybe it will be over or Aburame will forfeit by the time she’s done. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi forgets she hasn’t reduced her hearing or sense of smell down to normal levels again until she’s passing one of the many ANBU stationed around the arena. Metal and blood and... sand? Katsumi’s heart rate picks up as Sensei’s words come back to her. <em>Remember comrades smell like leaves. </em></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi keeps walking towards the bathroom. Does her best to move at a normal pace. Katsumi thinks she’s starting to understand why the older shinobi are on edge. She locks herself in a stall and digs her anticoagulant poison out. Considers it for a moment before coating both her swords liberally in it. Let’s it sit just long enough to know she won’t accidentally wipe it away and slides them back into their sheaths. Katsumi can hear the blood roaring in her ears and has to shove down her panic. And her excitement. This is not something to be excited about. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She has to take a deep breath to calm herself before walking back out. The ANBU is still there, and she tries to guess what animal it’s mask represents. Some kind of bird maybe? Katsumi isn’t sure but she makes a beeline to the stadium seats, Kakashi-Sensei’s hair makes him easy to pick out. That’s not even including the fact Gai-San is with him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi carefully doesn’t glance down to the arena. Would rather not witness whatever is going to happen there because Aburame didn’t forfeit. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sensei doesn’t react when she appears at his side beyond a distant greeting. He does react when she grabs his hand in hers. His whole body tenses for a moment before he looks down at her with a fake eye smile. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes my cute little genin?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi talks as she frantically taps out the codes for false, ANBU, and Sand on his wrist. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m sorry for loosing, sensei. I know you’re probably really disappointed in me after all the training you put me through.” Katsumi looks up at him with wide eyes, praying anyone whose watching just sees a student worried abut disappointing their Sensei. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa maa Katsumi-chan, you did well, there will be others.” The eye smile looks tighter than before, but only because she’s grown so used to reading his expressions. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But Sensei, I know you really wanted us to do well and now only Naruto is going to the finals. I meant to come apologize earlier but I went to the bathroom to wash the dirt off.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The slight nod she gets in return tells her he understands. “Maa, remember what I said, Katsumi-chan, there will be others. So for now just stay near me. Eyes open and teeth bared later.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi sticks close to Kakashi-sensei. He knows about the fake ANBU and their location. She has her orders now. Stay and wait. Fight later. Even Gai-San is subdued. For once entirely serious as he greets her. She didn’t miss him moving to block her tapping out code from anyone else’s view. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches the match below her with trepidation. Aburame isn’t fast, not like Rock Lee was. He is barely managing to avoid the sand crashing down on him. His insects don’t seem to be doing anything either. Don’t seem to be making a dent at all against the Suna boy. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he yells forfeit, or really just loudly says it, she’s not sure Aburame can yell, she breathes a sigh of relief. They won’t have to witness another genin become permanently crippled. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Only... Gaara doesn’t seem to notice his opponent has forfeited. Doesn’t seem to care he’s won. The sand keeps coming, even After Genma-San repeatedly tells him it’s over. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Eyes open and teeth bared, Katsumi-chan.” Kakashi-sensei is tense beside her, coiled and ready. Katsumi casts a fearful glance up at the viewing box where the others are but slowly moves herself into a ready stance. Tries to keep is as smooth and unnoticeable as Genma-San drilled into her. Her heart rate is through the roof and she knows whatever is about to happen, She’s going to have to use her swords. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When feathers begin to drift down, Katsumi can feel herself become drowsy. Knows she shouldn’t be. Sways a moment as she watches the spectators all fall asleep as one and barely manages to spike her chakra in time to stop from joining them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi bares her teeth and draws the Wakizashi. Glances up at Kakashi-sensei for direction. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa Katsumi-Chan, stay by me. Oh and you see our friends over there?” Katsumi zeros in on a group Oto nin approaching them. “I don’t think they need to see, Do you?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi slides the sword back into the sheath with a feral grin. “No, Sensei. I don’t think they do.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ox. Snake. Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The mist comes down and both her swords are drawn this time and Fighting in the mist with Kakashi-Sensei is both exactly the same as and entirely different from fighting beside Haku and Zabuza. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t have time to worry about Naruto or Shikamaru or Ino. All she has to worry about, all she can afford to worry about, is helping Sensei cut down the enemy. Blood and metal and chemicals. Blood and metal and Sand. Those are the enemy. Katsumi has no qualms about attacking those people. No qualms about listening to their hearts stutter to a stop. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi, in a moment I want you to run for the viewing area! Wake Shikamaru and Naruto if they’re unconscious! That Suna kid? He’s a container for a Bijuu, he needs to be stopped!” Sensei’s voice cuts through the mist above her head and she wants to argue. Doesn’t see why sending genin after a Bijuu is a good idea. Doesn’t want to leave the safety of her Sensei’s shadow in a warzone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Now!”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has her orders though, she doesn’t hesitate further. She moves quickly, using her mist to hide herself in, dodge kunai flung threw the air as she runs. Once she’s clear she has to drop the mist.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When it’s gone, Katsumi curses because the Suna kid is gone too, runs faster because she has orders and she needs to follow them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she arrives at the viewing station, it’s nearly empty. Only Ino is left there, slumped over in the genjutsu. Haruno, Naruto, and Shikamaru are gone. She has no idea what happened to Aburame either. She can’t track them by scent either. Kakashi-sensei only taught her to identify allies and enemies with a breath, not find anyone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The only order Kakashi-sensei gave her that still applies is fight. So Katsumi does. She lets that dark part of her mind over take her and she somehow ends up outside of the arena, fighting blind in her mist and striking out over and over again at anyone missing the smell of leaves. Doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t think. She just fights. She can hear screams and explosions and dying gasps all around her but she doesn’t pause. Keep moving. She just has to keep moving. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she’s surrounded by a group of four enemy combatants, she converts some of her mist into the water shrapnel. Pauses long enough to confirm they’re down and keeps going. Eventually a wind jutsu blows the mist away and Katsumi bares her teeth at the interloper. A Suna nin in a flak jacket. He looks pissed. But she’s pissed too. This is home. This is hers. Her people are missing and scattered and definitely fighting, and maybe dead. How dare this man be here. How dare he be breathing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She uses the same tactic against him as she did Temari. Kawarimi’s with a piece of rubble behind him and does her level best to take his head. He takes issue with that, and manages to fling her back into the side of a building. Katsumi doesn’t care about the pain. Doesn’t care that she felt her ribs break all over again. Far more this time. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She Kawarimi’s again, such a useful academy jutsu. Even closer this time and launches herself at his neck. This time, she succeeds in doing to him what she wanted to do to Zabuza. The blood is hot and thick and metallic in her mouth and feeling a windpipe collapse between her teeth is a startling but so very satisfying right now. She doesn’t let go when she feels him make one last strike against her. Doesn’t let go when the Kunai sinks into her side. Doesn’t let go until he’s on the ground and finished gurgling his own blood. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is furious and bloody and snarling and she thinks she’d attack Sensei if he had been here and tried to interfere. He’s not though. There are other Konoha shinobi fighting around her and none seem to even consider making her stop. A few even stopped to cover her from attacks as she bit into the man’s neck. Teamwork. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She ends up fighting alongside an Inuzuka and their Ninken when they tell her to pull the mist back up. Apparently they like the idea of fighting blind too. Their sense of smell, infinitely better than hers, probably helps. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi ignores her broken ribs. Ignores her sluggishly bleeding stab wound. Ignores it as new injuries join them. She can hardly feel them under the adrenaline in her veins. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eventually she ends up on a side street alone. She’s not sure how she got there but it annoys her. An empty street means no targets. She hears panicked screams suddenly and glances in the direction just long enough to understand. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A giant sand tanuki is fighting with a fox? Oh. That’s the nine tailed fox. Not good. Not something she can stop though. So back to killing Suna and Oto. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She finally ends up against a wall, surrounded by five Oto nin and they aren’t in range for her water shrapnel. She bares her teeth viciously at them. She’s not going to die quietly if this is it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When shadowy hands twist up their bodies and unceremoniously snap their necks, her first thought is Shikamaru. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s not though. It’s Shikaku-San and Inoichi-San and Chouza-San. They look better than she does, she’s sure. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi! Can you move?” Shikaku’s eyes are moving quickly over her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She bares her teeth at the question and uses another kawarimi to switch places with a kunai stuck in the roof he’s on. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can fight.” She can. She will. She is nowhere near finished. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He purses his lips and she hears him mutter troublesome under his breath as he gets a good look at her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Stay with us. No running off, stay back when you can.” Katsumi recognize’s an order from a superior officer when she hears one. She has to obey as much as it grates her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s a blur from there. The jounin move like a well-oiled machine and she does very little fighting herself. Shikaku seems determined to keep her out of further battle, even if he can’t get her off the battlefield itself. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">By the time it’s done, Katsumi is faint with blood loss. The adrenaline is finally wearing off and oh, everything hurts much worse than before. She watches Shikaku’s mouth moving, tries to understand what it is he’s saying, but her vision is going dark and before she realizes what’s happening, she’s sinking into blackness.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0062"><h2>62. Chapter 62</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Katsumi wakes up, the first thing that registers is that her wounds hurt significantly less than they did. The second thing is that someone is doing something to her arm. It stings like a senbon needle and she panics. Her eyes flash open and she snarls and uses her other hand to try and break the hand of the person touching her. Distantly, she can hear frantic voices trying to calm her, but she doesn’t know where she is or who’s with her or who the enemy is and before she can figure that out, that’s a cool feeling in her veins and she drifts off again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next time she comes back to consciousness, she’s been restrained. Her wrists are strapped down to the bed railing. She’s more coherent now though. Actually takes stock of her surroundings before lashing out at anyone. It’s quiet and there’s the beeping of a heart monitor and it smells like antiseptic. Damn. Katsumi has been wondering what it would take to land her a real hospital stint. Guess getting stabbed works. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She opens her eyes and has to blink against the harsh lights. Her body still hurts all over, but it’s all one dull throbbing. Turning her head, she sees she’s not the only one in a bed. There’s two other shinobi sharing the room with her. Neither are restrained and Katsumi is mildly envious of that. Doesn’t like the wrist restraints. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey, look. The pipsqueak finally woke up.” Shinobi one, a man who looks distantly familiar, grins at her when she looks over at them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My name is Katsumi. Not pipsqueak.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Really? Never would have thought from the hell your visitors were raising when you tried to get that medic. They were all shouting your name.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi squints at the man for a moment. “How long have I been here?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ahh three? Four days? Somewhere in there. Time kinda runs together when you’re stuck in a hospital bed.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What happened? After the invasion? Are we at war now?” Katsumi thinks that’s a pretty good question. Suna, their ally, just helped attack them. She’s pretty sure that qualifies as an act of war. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You hear this shit, Iwashi? Brat just woke up in the hospital and she wants to go to war. Hey kid, who in the hell is your sensei?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi narrows her eyes at the shinobi further away. She doesn’t get why he seems so amused or why he wants to know that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You the kid that went around ripping throats out with their teeth? Iwashi here swears it was you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has to think for a moment but yes. She’s positive she did that. Only once though. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“One. Not multiple.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right, kid. Well we aren’t going to war so you won’t be repeating that anytime soon. Again, who the hell trained you?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Everyone or my Jounin-sensei?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The shinobi exchange a glance at that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The closer one, Iwashi, speaks this time, “let’s start with your jounin-sensei.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hatake Kakashi.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Fucking Hatake.” She hears the other one mutter. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And the rest?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Umm Mitarashi Anko, Shiranui Genma, Maito Gai, Nara Shikaku, and my otou-San.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Who’s your otou-San?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ishihara Satoshi.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Iwashi snorts, “That explains fucking everything.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s the sensei line up from hell if I’ve ever heard it.” shinobi two grins. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not so bad. Learn lots.” Katsumi doesn’t get why they want to know. Is too tired to both trying to understand. She also really wants out of the restraints. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah brat? Which one taught you to do that shit?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No one. Felt like the right decision at the time.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The shinobi are silent at that. Both of them have funny expressions on their faces and Katsumi would be amused if she was aware enough to care. As it is she’s not and just wants out of the restraints so she can find something to drink. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She pulls against the restraints, testing them for any give. There’s just enough to awkwardly pull herself up into a sitting position if she slouches. She’d remove them but there’s a seal on them and Katsumi has no idea how to deal with that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s only been awake a few minutes and she already gets why shinobi hate the hospital. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What happened with the bijuu? And the snakes?” Katsumi is pretty positive she saw a big snake out of the corner of her eye at one point. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sand Bijuu is gone. The snakes were Orochimaru’s summons. Oh Hey, kid, you need to know, Sandaime was killed during the invasion.” It’s Iwashi that says that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi isn’t sure how to respond to that. She didn’t know the old man. Never personally met him the way Naruto had. Isn’t sure if she’s supposed to grieve or not. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Who’s going to be Hokage now?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Council is still debating it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is confused. The Sandaime was old. When he took the hat back up he should have already been considering a new successor. Katsumi wonders why he hadn’t. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The nurse coming in distracts her from that line of thought. Maybe she’ll let her out of the restraints. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Um excuse me? Can you remove the restraints?” Katsumi tries to look little and helpless as she asks. Maybe she’ll take pity. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The nurse doesn’t look impressed at all. “I don’t think so.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But I need to pee.” Katsumi adds a whine to her voice and wiggles a little on the bed. Really tries playing up helpless little kid. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The nurse purses her lips and looks like she doesn’t buy it for a second, but finally nods and once she’s done replacing the IV connected to Iwashi, comes And undoes her restraints. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Straight to the bathroom and straight back. Your ribs are healing nicely but you had a punctured lung and a badly lacerated liver. You shouldn’t be moving more than absolutely necessary.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m not in a lot of pain though.” Katsumi accepts the nurse’s help getting off the bed and looks up at her in confusion. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“That’s because most of it was healed before you woke up and you’re on painkillers. As you come off those, i</span>t’ll be more noticeable.”</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh. When can I go home?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“When you’re cleared for discharge.” The nurse helps her move the IV stand along with her as she walks to the bathroom. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“When will that be?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Another day. At least. You had mild chakra exhaustion too. That’s really what’s keeping you here. It slows down the rest of your healing.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Well, Katsumi doesn’t like that at all. She really doesn’t want to sit in a hospital bed. She needs to see if Sensei is okay. And Naruto and Sasuke and Shikamaru. Needs to find Tou-san too. Shikaku-San is probably fine. She remembers him talking to her before she passed out. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she comes back out, the nurse ushers her back to her bed. Changes her bandages and leaves. No restraints this time. Thank Kami. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Katsumi deserve a Chuunin vest?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0063"><h2>63. Chapter 63</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She ends up staying in the hospital for three more days. Misses the Hokage’s funeral entirely. Iwashi and Aoba, the other shinobi, both get released before her. Iwashi ruffles her hair and grins at her when she complains about it. Tells her not to bite the nurses. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru is the first of her people to visit her in the hospital. He shows up with flowers from Yoshino, who’s busy with planning funerals for the Naras who died in the invasion. He stands at the foot of her bed and reads the clipboard for a minute in silence. When he’s done he stares at her for awhile, an unreadable expression on his face. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Five broken ribs. A laceration in your liver. Right lung punctured. Lost roughly fifteen percent of your blood volume. Internal bleeding. Severe bruising covering your back. Minor lacerations just about everywhere else. Minor chakra exhaustion.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That’s all he says. His voice is perfectly calm. Katsumi knows he’s mad. When he lays out every injury she got, it sounds so much worse than it feels. Of course, she’s still a bit drugged. That might explain it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I didn’t wait to die. I kept my promise.” Katsumi reminds him. Probably not what she should say, but she’s a shinobi. She’s not made of glass and it’s her job to protect Konoha when necessary. She doesn’t regret it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You could have died, though. If otou-San hadn’t found you when he did, you probably would have.” His eyes are fixed on her unerringly. She can see the slight twitch of his hands that tells her he’s a lot angrier than he’s letting on. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I was supposed to get you and Naruto to go fight the Gaara kid. You were already gone when I got there so I just went to work.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Haruno made us go with her to do that when Aburame followed him to make sure he wasn’t going towards the village center. Why didn’t you go back to Kakashi when you saw we were gone?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi shrugs one shoulder, “Couldn’t make it back through the arena to him.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She thinks that was her logic anyway. It’s all a bit of a blur. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru doesn’t look impressed. If anything her response makes him angrier. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You could have died, Katsumi. You could have been among all the bodies they still haven’t identified yet. Your name could have ended up on the memorial stone!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So could’ve yours. You went after a Bijuu! With three other genin for back up! That’s practically suicide! At least I had Chuunin and Jounin around me!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is horrified at the thought of her people actually fighting the Ichibi with only two other genin for back up. She knows Sensei told her to get them to do that, but it still sounds like suicide.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru audibly grinds his teeth and looks away for a moment. Finally he walks over and sits in the chair beside her bed. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just, please think more. Your sensei had no idea where you went, when he found us and asked where you were? I thought for sure you were dead somewhere. I don’t want to have to attend your funeral, too.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has to restrain herself from flinching at his suddenly worn down tone. He sounds far older than he is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll be more careful. I’m not going to apologize for doing what I thought was best at the time, though. We’re shinobi, risking our lives is half the job.” Katsumireaches out and tugs his ponytail lightly, the way he does hers and grins at him when he swats her hand away. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Troublesome woman. Your teammates are all fine, by the way. Naruto spent like a day here, he wanted to visit you but since your freak out when you woke up, they barred visitors in case you did that again. Today’s the first day they let anyone visit. Sasuke has been sulking around the Yamanaka’s flower shop. I think he’ll drop by eventually.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi grins at the image of her surly teammate trying to buy flowers. Her smile fades when a thought occurs to her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Has anyone seen my otou-San?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru leans back in his chair, looking supremely uncomfortable, “No, but His name isn’t on the list of the dead. Otou-San is keeping an ear out for any information for you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She nods once. That’s something at least. Tou-san hasn’t been identified among the dead. Maybe he’s just in a different hospital room. Or he’s just too busy to drop by. She’s sure it’s all hands on deck trying to fix the mess the invasion has surely caused. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eventually, Shikamaru has to leave. Apparently, her visitors are restricted to only thirty minutes each. Something about not wanting her to feel threatened or overwhelmed or something. Apparently when a shinobi wakes up and attacks a medic, they have all kinds of restrictions thrown at them. How annoying. If that results in a visit to psych she’s going to be furious. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke and Naruto do eventually show up though. Naruto is practically buzzing with hyper, nervous energy and keeps trying to go get her things. She appreciates his desire to help but she’d love it more if he’d just calm down. Sasuke doesn’t say much, just sets the flowers down beside Yoshino’s and reads her chart the way Shikamaru did, his sharingan flashing for a moment to commit it to memory. He doesn’t admonish her though, just looks over her carefully like he’s expecting to see her injuries through her bandages. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Don’t get killed, Ishihara. Then I’ll just be stuck with the Dobe.” Is his only comment about it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll do my best. Where were you?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Near the civilian district before it got crushed by the snakes. Ended up burning a few Oto nin alive.” His voice is entirely flat as he says this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s an awkward silence as Katsumi tries to figure out what to say to that. Sasuke burned people alive and the civilian district is apparently crushed. She’s not sure what an appropriate response to any of that is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Thankfully, Naruto is happy to fill the silence. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You missed it, Katsumi-Chan! Shino took off after Gaara, right? But Sakura made me and Shikamaru go with her to help! And we ended up getting chased by that puppet guy and a bunch of Oto nin. So Shino stopped to fight puppet guy! And, and Shikamaru! He had to stay behind to trap the Oto nin so Sakura and I could catch Gaara! And Gaara fell asleep or something and turned into the ichibi! So Sakura used her wood jutsu thing to keep him from running but she couldn’t wake him up and the ichibi was super mad and wouldn’t stop struggling! So I had to summon Gambunta! He’s the boss toad, right! And we had to henge into the Kyuubi and I head butted Gaara to wake him back up!! It was awesome, Katsumi-chan!!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There is so much to unpack from that and she has no idea where to even begin. She doesn’t know which part to question or which she should focus on the most. It’s just too much and if not for the painkillers she’s certain she’d have a headache from thinking about it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All she can get out is, “You were the fox.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His eyes go wide and he actually looks panicked and hurt at that statement and she has no idea why. He was the one who henged into the Kyuubi. It wasn’t the real thing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Before she can elaborate or apologize for whatever hurt him, though, the nurse tells them their time is up. Katsumi watches them go and she thinks she gets why the thirty minute rule exists. That entire conversation was exhausting and confusing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s halfway asleep that night when it all clicks and she almost bolts out hospital window to go find Naruto. He wasn’t just henged into the Kyuubi. Holy shit. He holds the Kyuubi. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0064"><h2>64. Chapter 64</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is practically climbing the walls of her hospital room the day she’s discharged. She still has no idea where tou-San is, still needs to talk to Naruto about her realization, still needs to train and help with rebuilding efforts, Medical clearance be damned. She can’t keep sitting here useless. She has to keep moving. Just like always. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei is there when she’s finally allowed to leave. He pats her head and eye smiles at her lazily. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa Katsumi-chan, you did well during the invasion, but we need to work on you keeping your head in a fight. So I’ve been talking to Inuzuka Tsume. You get to stay with her for a few weeks and she should be able to help you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi stares at him. That’s Inuzuka’s mother. She really doesn’t want to stay with Inuzuka. She wants to go home. She wants to see tou-San. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Her clan relies on instinct in a fight too. They can keep their heads though. You need that.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But I need to go home and I need to see tou-San and I need to train and-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, Katsumi-chan, calm down. Your Tou-San is in a restricted area of the hospital, you’ll see him when he gets out. I’m going to walk you home and get your things and consider this experience training. It’ll be good for you. No arguing now. Sensei knows best.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi glares at him but doesn’t speak further. Walking through the village is... depressing. Building are in shambles and entire streets are closed down. There’s blood stains on the sides of building even after it rained. She’s certain if she augmented her sense of smell, it’d reek of death. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her apartment has burn marks on the sides of the building and she can see where some of the trees got knocked down by a wind jutsu, but it looks safe enough. Kakashi-sensei walks into her apartment first. It’s weird, having her sensei here. Feels more surreal than the first time Naruto was here. He doesn’t look over the apartment though. Just goes straight to her room and grabs her bag, tossing random things into it like he knows exactly what all she’ll need. It grates her a little. She has a system for packing and he isn’t following it. Kakashi-sensei just ignores her growing stress, humming as he throws her bag at her and ushers her back out the door. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi glares at his back as they walk. She’s never been to the Inuzuka compound and when they get there she can here loud voices and barking and she can practically feel the manic energy of the clan oozing out of its compound. She doesn’t like it. She wants quiet. She wants her apartment and she wants to help rebuild. She needs to find Naruto too. She doesn’t have time for this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei leads her through the compound and she does her best to ignore to glances and scenting of the air the clan members and their ninken do as they walk by. A few grin toothily at her, their teeth are sharp too. Not quite the same as hers, primarily it’s their incisor teeth, but she feels a little more at ease seeing it. Tou-san’s smiles look a bit like that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yo, Tsume, this is the pup I mentioned, I want her back in one piece. Have fun.” Sensei shoves her forward to a woman with wild looking hair and a feral grin on her face. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah yeah, Hatake. You’ll get the brat back all nice and trained up for you. Just like we agreed.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches as her Sensei vanishes. Just stands there quietly despairing because she did not agree to this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well brat? What are you just standing there for? Follow me!” The woman’s voice is almost a bark and Katsumi jumps and hurries to keep up with the woman whose already walking away. The ninken glances back at her and he looks extremely amused by her presence. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s lead to a house near the center of the compound. It’s a much more chaotic place than the Nara’s home, with belongings thrown everywhere and Katsumi feels overwhelmed. She doesn’t mean for it to happen, but a small growl slips out. Instantly, Tsume-Sama smacks her on the back of the head. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“None of that, pup! No reason to get all pissy with me. You save that shit for people who deserve it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi blinks in shock. Yoshino-San did that to her a long time ago but it didn’t hurt half as bad as that hit. She’s mildly dazed as she follows the woman to the room she’s staying in. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’ll be here. Kiba’s room is across the hall, and my daughter Hana is further down. Put your stuff up and then come find me. You’re going to help clean the kennels.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches the woman stalk out in a daze. She has no idea what just happened but she thinks she’d rather be in the hospital still.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Inuzukas + katsumi</p><p>A disaster waiting to happen?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0065"><h2>65. Chapter 65</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Life in the Inuzuka compound is not the calm peacefulness of the Nara compound at all. There’s always something happening. Dogs are everywhere and people just walk into Tsume’s (not -San or -Sama, Tsume refuses to respond to such “uptight” things like that) home whenever they want. There’s yelling and roughhousing and Katsumi is beginning to understand why Inuzuka is so brash and loud whenever she deals with him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has never been disciplined so much in her life. Every time she growls or snaps her teeth in frustration at Tsume, she either gets smacked on the back of the head or picked up by the scruff of her neck and shook similar to the way Zabuza did on the bridge. She’s encouraged to rough house with Kiba and the younger members of the clan and when she gets too excited or hits too hard, she gets hit back just as hard. Katsumi doesn’t understand any of it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She and Kiba snarl and snap at each other for the first two days before Tsume drags them out of the house and into the yard and tells them to work it out. Katsumi isn’t prepared at all for the sudden brawl on the ground. It’s loud and messy and her ribs hurt doing it. Kiba ends up pining her down and she expects a a solid beating at that point but he just grins down at her and hops off when she doesn’t keep fighting. Even helps her to her feet afterwards. Things settle a little after that. She still doesn’t like Kiba much but they start to get along better. No point getting into another brawl. Akamaru even joins in on the strange experience, doling out licks on her hand or nipping her fingers whenever she does something he thinks is a good or bad idea. It’s weird.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tsume has her helping with chores everyday and when she does something right she gets a pleased grin and a hand ruffling her hair for her efforts. She’s apparently not allowed to leave the compound except for visiting the hospital to get cleared for training again until Kakashi-sensei comes back to get her. The one time she tries to sneak out to find Naruto, Tsume’s ninken, Kuromaru, actually bites the back of her shirt and drags her back to Tsume who whacks her on the head again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s strange and Katsumi isn’t sure if it’s a good thing or not, but she adjusts. When she gets cleared for training, Tsume marches her out to a small training area the clan has and tells her to do her worst. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s swords are with Shikaku-San she’s pretty sure and she has no weapons and she’s not even sure attacking Tsume is even a good idea. It feels like a trick. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well brat? We don’t have all day!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi bares her teeth at Tsume and is rewarded with Tsume baring her own back. Well. Fine then. Katsumi launches herself at Tsume, aims to land a hit to her stomach. She doesn’t even come close toconnecting though. She’s immediately thrown through the air like she weighs nothing. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Is that the best you can do? I know you ripped out some idiot’s throat! Get mad! Fight, puppy!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi snarls and lunges again. This time she’s grabbed by the back of the shirt and shaken before being tossed again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Again and again it happens. Keeps on until Katsumi wants to curse at the woman. Keeps going until Katsumi feels like biting her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The darker part of her mind is trying to overtake her, is furious at the treatment and Katsumi wants to lash out, wants to hurt this woman. So she lets it take over. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She attacks as viciously as she can. Snarling her rage and aiming the most viscous strikes she knows at the woman, tries to bite her too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The woman laughs once, loud and harsh and mean and unceremoniously throws her into the ground and holds her there. Katsumi snarls into the dirt and struggles against the hold. It’s no use and eventually she goes limp.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re a mean little pup. That’s fine brat, be mean, it’ll keep you alive. But mean and stupid is how you die. You’re a pup. Not an alpha. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you are.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tsume holds her there for another moment before releasing her and walking away. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Get cleaned up, brat, you’re helping me make dinner tonight.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi ends up curled up in a pile with Kiba and Akamaru later that night after dinner. Even though she’s not his friend, it’s nice and he seems to understand her pouting silence. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0066"><h2>66. Chapter 66</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei ends up not being able to come get her from the compound because he somehow got genjutsu’ed into a coma a few days into her stay. Kiba actually ends up sitting on her to keep her from taking off to find the person who did it. What’s worse is she finds out Naruto has taken off with Jiraiya to go find the drunk of a Sannin, Tsunade, who is apparently the next Hokage, and Katsumi thinks she’s going to lose her mind. Sasuke is probably still holed up in his stupid empty compound, Kakashi-sensei is in a coma and Naruto is not even in the village and Tou-san is still hospitalized or something and she’s stuck in this compound and nothing is okay. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tsume’s solution to Katsumi’s high strung behavior is to keep dragging her out to the training ground and sparring her until she’s too tired to think. It only helps for a little while though and more often than not Katsumi ends up curled up with Kiba and snarling her frustrations for hours afterwards. Tsume seems to have told the whole clan to keep an eye on her because every time she tries to sneak out at least two members of the clan drag her back and tell her to stay. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It’s not a good time for Katsumi. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The clan seems to understand her panic though and more than one member tries to pull her into a cuddle pile of ninken. She’s not sure why they seem so understanding or why none seem surprised at her further loss of control. So she asks Tsume. The answer makes more sense than she expected. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re away from your pack. Both of your alphas are incapacitated. One of your pack mates is gone and the other is avoiding everyone and you can’t see them. We get it, brat. Pack is pack. It’s instinct. What do I tell you about instinct?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Listen to it, but don’t let it rule.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right in one, brat. Hold it together, you can’t fix everything. You’re just a pup.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It helps. A little. Slowly as the days go on, she sees improvement in her sparring. It’s rough and it means getting even closer than she normally would in a fight but she learns. Tsume teaches her how to get in someone’s space and stay there, how to take ground and keep it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It helps to keep her mind off her people. Her pack? Tsume pins her hard on the ground whenever Katsumi lets her instincts take over entirely. Soon enough she’s able to listen to them while thinking. It’s strange. Keeping her head even when that darker part of her is at the forefront of her mind, but she likes it. She likes being able to keep thinking. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Tsume is satisfied with that, she teaches her to direct her chakra into claws around her nails. That’s hard. A lot harder than anything she’s ever done. But she has nothing else to do while she’s here, so it actually takes her less time to master it than normal. She has to actually shape the chakra instead of just directing it. The results are good though. Her nails become as much a weapon as her swords or her Kunai and Katsumi is viscerally pleased with it. Tsume grins ferally when she succeeds and tells her now she won’t have to use her teeth for ripping out throats. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eventually Naruto gets back, the new hokage in tow. It’s another two days before Kakashi-sensei walks into the compound to collect her. Tsume takes him to where Katsumi is napping with Kiba and Akamaru and the Haimaru brothers on the living room floor. Katsumi doesn’t need more than a moment of awareness to launch herself at her sensei in pure joy because her person is back and he is not comatose and already she feels better. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He huffs at how hard she slams into him and has to pry her off of him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sensei! Are you okay? Should you be up? Who did it? Is Naruto with you? I need to talk to him! Oh and Tsume taught me this really awesome chakra technique and now I have chakra claws! Oh is tou-San out of the hospital yet?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi knows she’s babbling like Naruto but she’s been here for almost three weeks and she wants to know everything. She missed her people and now one is here and she’s so excited. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Easy, pup! The man just got here.” Tsume’s harsh, barking laugh rings through the room as she gives her a light slap over the head. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei looks extremely pleased when Katsumi’s only reaction to the admonishment is a sheepish grin and a shake of her head. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, I’m fine now. Naruto is busy pestering the new hokage. You can show me what you learned later. As for your tou-San, he got out of the hospital a week ago. He’s on medical leave for a few weeks though so he agreed that you should stay with the Nara’s for awhile.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s smile fades at that. Her tou-San is still on medical leave? And he doesn’t want her to come home now? </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The confusion must have shown on her face, because Sensei pats her head. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“He just thinks you’d be happier if you could enjoy yourself more instead of worrying over him. Don’t you want to see your lazy friend?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t like it but Sensei is boss and Tsume has spent three weeks making sure she knows she’s not pack alpha. She pouts but nods once. She has to track Naruto down as soon as she gets the chance though. She has questions and she’s tired of waiting for the answers. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0067"><h2>67. Chapter 67</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-sensei leaves her to her own devices for awhile so he can focus on training Sasuke one on one. Apparently there was some kind of incident no one told her about while she was at the Inuzuka compound and Sasuke got hurt. She nearly has a fit when Kakashi-sensei tells her that. Katsumi figures one on one training will probably help him get it together. So she doesn’t worry about that. She does worry about the fact no one mentioned he was hospitalized. Or that he had some kind of blow out fight with Naruto while there and now things are worse than ever between the pair. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto is apparently avoiding her and she ends up having to stalk Ichiraku’s for an entire day before he finally makes an appearance. She doesn’t give him a chance to bolt. As soon as he leaves the stand, she pounces onto him. Clinging a bit like an octopus to the orange clad boy. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto! Where have you been? We gotta talk.” Katsumi pretends she doesn’t feel his entire body stiffen when she says that and just clings tighter. She’s pretty sure he won’t try to throw her off but it’s Naruto. He’s impulsive like that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Heh, sure Katsumi-chan, what do you wanna talk about?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Let’s go up to the hokage faces and talk, yeah?” Katsumi hops off his back and grabs his hand, pulling him along after her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She has to practically drag Naruto up to the Yondaime’s head. She gets why he doesn’t want to have this conversation but she needs answers. When they’re settled in the hair spikes and she’s certain he’s not going to throw himself off the mountain, she takes a deep breath and tries to figure out how to ask. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Is this about the teme? I’m not going to apologize, dattebayo!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What? No, Naruto. It’s not. Are you the... the Kyuubi’s jinchuuriki?” Katsumi has no idea where that word came from but she knows it’s the right word. Knows it fits. Saying it feels like someone has jogged her memory, <em>hard</em>. All those nearly forgotten memories of before are bouncing around in her head and she can feel a migraine coming on. It’s like saying that word unlocked something in her head. Whatever memories she has left, she needs to write them down when she gets a chance. Needs to get them out. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That’s not important right now though, Naruto’s panicked, horrified face is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto? Look it’s fine if you are, okay? I don’t care. Just a yes or no will do.” Katsumi has to suppress a hiss of pain as her headache increases. Kami, she wants it to stop. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He hesitates but finally nods. He looks like he’s waiting for her to turn on him. Like he’s waiting for a death sentence. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Does it hurt you or anything?” He has a demon in him, like the Gaara kid and That kid was absolutely insane. She thinks it’s a fair question. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No? I don’t think so? I know it’s why I heal so fast. You can’t tell anyone, dattebayo. Not even the teme.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I promise I won’t. I honestly don’t care as long as you and everyone else is safe.” That’s the truth. And from her old memories she thinks everyone is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So, we’re still friends?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Don’t be stupid, of course we are. We’re a team, remember?” Katsumi’s vision is getting splotchy from pain and this conversation needs to end so she can go back to the Nara’s and sort through the mess in her head. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course! We’re Teammates, dattebayo!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, exactly. I gotta go, Yoshino-San will get angry if I’m late to dinner.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t pause to wait for a response. She practically throws herself of the mountain in her haste to get back to the Nara’s. Her head feels like it’s splitting open and she just wants to be in a dark, quiet room where she can finally think. Whatever is happening, it hurts. So, so badly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She stumbles past Yoshino-san on her way to her room and mumbles something about a migraine and sleeping it off. She barely manages to find a paper and pencil to write with as she tries to focus hard enough to put her memories onto the paper. The result is as fragmented as her memories. And probably just as useless. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The list ends up pitifully short but it’s something. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><ul>
<li class="p1"><span class="s1">Danzo’s arm</span></li>
<li class="p1"><span class="s1">Tobi is Obito. </span></li>
<li class="p1"><span class="s1">Akatsuki </span></li>
<li class="p1"><span class="s1">Uzumaki Kushina</span></li>
<li class="p1"><span class="s1">Infinite tsukuyomi</span></li>
<li class="p1"><span class="s1">Zetsu </span></li>
</ul><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><br/>Katsumi has no idea what any of it means, but the headache is a bit more manageable now. Enough that she can curl up and sleep. Maybe there will be something more tangible in the morning.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0068"><h2>68. Chapter 68</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The headache is still there in the morning. She’s awake well before the rest of the household and she just sits and pours over the short list. Some of it stirs memories. Vague and blurry, but memories all the same. Akatsuki, red clouds in a black sky, death and destruction. She knows the name Danzo already. He’s one of the council members. Why his arm is important escapes her though. It’s the names of Uzumaki Kushina and whoever Obito is that interests her the most. There are no Uzumaki but Naruto in the village. If this woman existed, they have to be linked. Obito, Tobi, whoever he is, he leaves a sense of foreboding. Katsumi wonders about them. If they’re dead their names will be on a gravestone or, if they were shinobi who died in action, on the memorial stone like her mother. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So that’s where she starts. She needs answers. Needs to understand. There’s so much in her head and it keeps slipping through the cracks and she needs to know what those things are right now. She slips out of the Nara compound quietly. Takes care not to wake anyone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wanders up and down the rows of gravestones and finds nothing. There is no Uzumaki Kushina. No Obito. No Tobi. If they’re dead, they aren’t here. So she heads to the memorial stone. Pours over name after name. Read each one carefully. She finds Uzumaki Kushina first. Right beside Namikaze Minato. The headache increases and all she can picture is the pair of them dying with a little blonde baby between them. Understanding hits and she nearly screams. Naruto isn’t a random orphan. His parents were this Uzumaki Kushina and the goddamn Yondaime. Katsumi is shocked no one noticed before. She’s shocked she never noticed before. The resemblance of Naruto and the Yondaime’s stone face is uncanny. Why does no one know this?</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi keeps looking, if that’s here, Obito or Tobi might be here too. She finds it further up the stone. Uchiha Obito. An Uchiha. Dead before the Fourth Hokage was. Katsumi stares and stares and all she can think is that his name doesn’t belong on the stone. It’s uncharitable because he had to have died for Konoha to end up here, but it’s an undeniable truth. She just wishes she could remember why. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She would ask Sasuke about it, but he’s with Sensei getting personal training. She thinks he’d be furious if she started asking about his long dead relatives. He’s always been touchy about it and ever since the exams, he’s been even angrier. She needs to know who Obito was. Who he must be. Obito is Tobi. Not was. Is. So he’s still alive. Somewhere. It makes the headache subside back to a soft throbbing when she thinks that. Like her memories wanted her to get to that conclusion. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Whatever her old memories mean, she can’t recall. Too many missing pieces. Too much long forgotten. All she knows is these things are important. Are connected. She has not idea what those connections are though. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi!” It’s Shikamaru, sounding exhausted and entirely put out at being up so early. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What?” Katsumi stands up from her kneeling position and turns to look in his direction. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We have summons from Lady Hokage. We need to go there now.” He looks resigned, like he can already guess why they’re being called there and isn’t thrilled by it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Summons from the hokage. Strange. She’s never had that before. Never actually met the last one in person. Katsumi wants to ignore it. Wants to keep searching out answers to the thousands of questions she has about that pitiful list. Orders are orders though. And Shikamaru looks impatient as he waits for her. So reluctantly she leaves the stone and falls into step beside him. Forces herself to focus on her orders rather than the old, broken memories pounding a war beat in her head. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they arrive, Haruno is there too. Face perfectly blank and back ramrod straight.The new Hokage is pretty. Much younger than a Sannin is supposed to be. Of course, Orochimaru didn’t look old either. So maybe Katsumi shouldn’t judge. She does, however, judge the sake bottles in the trash can. Unprofessional to drink so much. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her eyes focus on the picture of the Yondaime on the wall, though. He looks just like Naruto. There’s no way no one has made the connection. No way there’s not at least one other person that’s realized it yet. There can’t be. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oi, Ishihara, Pay attention!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s eyes shoot back to the Hokage expectantly. She doesn’t look happy. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I don’t really want to do this, the fact is though that we lost a lot of shinobi during the invasion. We need manpower. The three of you are the only ones who competed in the exams who I can honestly say I’m willing to promote. Haruno, you displayed flawless leadership by organizing the group that defeated the Ichibi container. Nara, your ability to strategize and keep your head in a fight are invaluable in a Chuunin. Ishihara... I nearly didn’t promote you. You showed an ability to strategize when you faced Nara and you’re a terror on the battlefield according to multiple reports. Frankly, I can’t justify keeping you as a genin since Inuzuka Tsume vouched for your newfound self control, don’t make her a liar. So congratulations brats, you’re Chuunin now. Don’t mess it up.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The woman proceeds to throw each of them a flak jacket. Katsumi catches the heavy fabric and looks down at it. This is... unexpected. She’s not sure she deserves it, but she can’t very well turn it down. She’d wanted to be promoted with Naruto and Sasuke, hadn’t wanted them to leave her behind. She’d never considered this possibility. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well? Put them on!” Lady Hokage snaps at them. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Haruno already has hers on and zipped all the way up. She doesn’t even look pleased by the promotion. Katsumi wonders if she has any actual emotions now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru groans but obeys. Katsumi has to suppress a grin at that. He hates more responsibility. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi slips hers on and zips it up to her collar bones. A perfect fit. She wonders idly how they got the measurements but ultimately decides she doesn’t want to know. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Now get out! Tomorrow the three of you start reporting to the Chuunin desks for missions!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Well. Okay then. Guess it’s back to work. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So y’all got to play the council for Katsumi’s Chuunin promotion!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0069"><h2>69. Chapter 69</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Life falls into its new rhythm. Katsumi ends up manning the north gate on the night shift mostly. It’s boring and nothing even happens, but apparently every new Chuunin has to do their dues here. It gives her plenty of time to sort out her thoughts though. She hasn’t told Naruto what she’s figured out about him yet. He’s been out on a mission with Aburame and Hyuuga Hinata while she’s stuck at the gate. Katsumi wants Sensei and Sasuke to return from wherever Kakashi-Sensei took him so she can ask Sasuke about Uchiha Obito. He feels like the key to the problem. Like if she can just figure out who he is, everything else will fall into place. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The night of the promotions, Yoshino had actually squealed in joy and insisted on taking a picture of her and Shikamaru in their new flak jackets. Now there’s a photo of them hung proudly on the wall of the Nara house, Katsumi smiling widely, teeth on full display, and even Shikamaru is wearing a small, rueful grin in it. Shikaku hadn’t looked surprised at all, Katsumi is certain he knew about this. The fact Tou-San still doesn’t want her coming home dampens the excitement though. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The morning after the promotion, all of her stuff from her apartment, Ishihara scrolls included, were in boxes by the door of the house. That hurt. A lot. Shikaku is the one who tells her he’s off medical leave and has taken an indefinitely long mission outside of the village to Ame. On top of her memories and having Her whole team gone, this is almost enough to make her want to blow something up the way Naruto does. How dare he turn her out of their home and leave. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So she sits at the little check in station in the dark, fuming at him in between trying to figure out the stupid memories. Her partner, a shinobi a bit older than her named Hayase, is passing the time by carving a piece of wood into the vague outline of a cat. Or a squirrel. It’s a bit hard to tell. He’s nice enough, another suiton user, apparently. He’s offered to teach her a few more jutsu in their spare time, which makes her warm instantly to him. The only condition being she teach him the hiding in the mist technique. A fair trade, in her opinion. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi expected more from a promotion. Had expected to actually be going on missions. Rookie Chuunin apparently don’t get that right away. It’s gate duty first, then border patrol next unless requested for a specific mission. At least there’s no more D-ranks. That’s something. She’s also expected to pick a field to specialize in. Close combat doesn’t qualify apparently.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s a lot. Assassination, T&amp;I, seduction, infiltration, guarding, tracking, capture and recovery, tactics, diplomacy and so many more. So many choices, apparently it’s during wartime when she wouldn’t have to worry about an actual specialty. She’d just be in a normal combat unit. It’s during peace time she has to have a primary specialty on top of her combat specialty. Makes it easier to place her on appropriate missions. She’s aware she’s already been blacklisted from any diplomacy or seduction missions. Apparently she doesn’t have the social skills for those. She’s not especially offended by that. Katsumi wonders who it is that handled figuring those things out. As if everyone couldn’t already tell she’s a bad fit for those. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi sighs in boredom. Being a genin was more interesting than this. It’s towards the end of her shift when Kakashi-sensei arrives at the gate with Sasuke in tow. Kakashi-Sensei greets he with an eye smile and congratulates her on her promotion as he signs in, tells her she’s still expected at training when she’s not busy. Sasuke doesn’t say anything to her, just takes one look at her flak jacket and looks furiously away again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So. The training trip didn’t improve his attitude. That’s disappointing. Katsumi wonders if Sensei will make an appointment for him with the Yamanaka therapists. Sasuke probably has never spoken to anyone about his problems in his life. Stubborn, prideful Uchiha. At least he’s back. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hopefully she gets a chance to ask him about Uchiha Obito soon. And hopefully he doesn’t have a meltdown when she does. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So this part of the story is going to end soon. Do y’all want me to skip over the two year gap between shonen jump and Shippūden, or would you like me to cover those years in the next installment of the series?</p><p>Also, what types of missions should she specialize in?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0070"><h2>70. Chapter 70</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Things go straight to hell maybe a week after Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke return and she never does get to ask Sasuke about Uchiha Obito. Katsumi is just leaving her post at the North gate around midnight when she sees Sasuke walking towards it. Alone. Katsumi immediately knows she’s not going to like this. Her headache is pounding again and she gets a flash of Sasuke and Naruto standing on opposite sides of a valley instead of side by side like they should be. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke? It’s a bit late to be leaving the village, don’t you think? And without any supplies? Sensei taught us better.” Katsumi steps out of the shadows to stand in his way. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Move, Katsumi. Now.” His black eyes shine in the pale light of the moon as he glares at her. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can’t do that. Shinobi aren’t permitted to leave the village without authorization. Doing so grants them the automatic status of Nukenin.” Katsumi doesn’t want to have to fight him. Hayase is already gone and the next shift won’t be in for another thirty minutes at least, because it’s Shikamaru and his gate buddy and they’re lazy as can be and nothing ever happens on the graveyard shift so who cares? She just needs to stall him until someone arrives. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi, you don’t get to stop me. Move.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi shifts slightly and tenses, ready to fight him if she has too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No. You can stay here and we can talk. I think that’s a better idea than whatever is going through your head.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can see his jaw working and knows he’s just as angry as he was when she visited him after the preliminaries. Maybe angrier. She doesn’t care though. He’s one of her people and whatever his idea is, she knows it’s a bad one. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I have to get stronger. Kakashi-Sensei isn’t enough. This team isn’t enough. The village isn’t enough. I’m not getting strong enough here. Not strong enough to defeat him.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And what? Running off to who? Orochimaru? That’s the answer? Turning traitor to your own village? That’s your grand solution?” Katsumi bares her teeth in frustration. How could Sasuke think he’s not getting stronger? He’s easily one of the strongest genin there is. Sensei has made sure their whole team is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m going to come back one day. Once I’ve killed him.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh? Will you? You realize you won’t just get to come back like you never left? If you leave now, being the last Uchiha won’t be enough to keep you safe! You’ll be just another traitor!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His eyes spin red and before she can draw her Wakizashi he’s directly in front of her. She doesn’t want to hurt him but he’s far too close and far too angry and if he’s going to try and leave, she’ll do what she has to do. She quietly forms the chakra claws Tsume taught her. He’s too close for her swords now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Enough, Katsumi. I’m not the same as you and Naruto. You’re content to be stifled by this village. To be nothing more than tools for it. I have greater ambitions. Things I nearly forgot. This team? It’s nothing more than a distraction.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi snarls at that. They’ve fought with him. They’ve bled with him. They’ve taken care of each other. How could none of that matter to him?</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So what? We don’t matter to you? We aren’t worth your time? Is that it, Uchiha?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi can hear footsteps coming their way. Too far away to do anything yet. To see what’s happening. She just has to keep him talking for a bit longer. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sasuke seems to realize it too. She sees his tomoe spin faster for a moment and before she can draw her weapon (against a friend, a teammate, a pack member, her person) his hand is flashing out and hitting a pressure point in her neck. She just manages to slash the chakra claws across his face as she blacks out. The feel of his blood hitting her face is the last thing she registers. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wakes up on a bench facing its back, with Shikamaru shaking her and it’s early morning and the sun is up and Katsumi looses her shit immediately. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi? You’ve been sleeping all night- fuck why is there blood on your face?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sasuke! Dammit, Shikamaru! You should have woken me immediately! It’s his blood! We have to go to Lady Hokage now! Sasuke left!” Katsumi is panicking. Sasuke has at least eight hours on them. A lifetime practically. If he crosses the border before they catch him, he’s gone. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What? Katsumi! Calm down and focus! I didn’t know, I’ve slept on the bench after the night shift before, I figured you’d probably done it too. What do you mean Sasuke left?” Shikamaru actually shakes her a little, his face is dark and she can see the mild worry in his eyes. He knows the consequences too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll explain when we get there, we need to tell Lady Hokage!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi shakes his hands off her shoulders and takes off towards The Hokage building. They don’t have time to talk about it. This is bad. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru catches up with her almost immediately. Looking more focused than ever. Good, he knows something serious is happening. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s at the door to the Hokage’s office faster than she’s even gotten anywhere. She almost cracks the door with how hard she knocks on it. Even with Sasuke gone she can’t just barge into the Hokage’s office. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Come in already!” The Hokage’s irritation is clear from her tone but Katsumi doesn’t care. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s talking as soon as she opens the door. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Lady Hokage! Last night between midnight and one in the morning Uchiha Sasuke abandoned the village. I attempted to stop him but failed. I managed to cut his face, however, and I’d like to suggest a tracking unit to retrieve him.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She sees the fury flash across the woman’s face. “Why didn’t you report this earlier, Ishihara?!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I was unconscious until a few moments ago.” Katsumi braces for the dressing down she deserves. She’s a Chuunin, she should have been able to stop Sasuke. This is her failure. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tsunade eyes her for a moment and shakes her head, like Katsumi’s fuck up doesn’t even deserve the effort it would take to reprimand her for it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shikamaru. You’re in charge of forming and leading a team to bring him back. Time is of the essence. Orochimaru likely set bodyguards to help Sasuke. Chose any genin you think can handle it. Ishihara, you’re his co-captain. You are not to kill Sasuke. As of now, this is a rescue mission, not an execution. Now go!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They go. Katsumi is itching to leave, but they need a team.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi, get Kiba and Naruto! I’ll get Choji and Neji. That should be enough.” Shikamaru’s voice brokers no argument. There’s only a grim certainty in his voice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What about Haruno? She’s a Chuunin. She beat Sasuke in the exams.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If you can find her, do it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi nods once. Haruno would be a godsend on this mission. They need everything they can get for this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Katsumi, go!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi splits off from Shikamaru and beelines for the Inuzuka compound. It’s closer and she knows Kiba will be there right now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t pause to greet the Inuzuka who are already up, she goes straight to Tsume’s house and walks in the way everyone always does. Kiba is asleep and she ends up waking him by yanking the covers off. He’s naked but she doesn’t care, there’s more important things to worry about. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shit! Katsumi? I’m naked! What the hell?! Wait, Is that blood on your face?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We have a mission, get dressed! Sasuke ran last night and we’re in charge of getting him back. Meet me at the north gate in twenty minutes.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t pause to wait for his agreement, just takes off to go get Naruto. He won’t take much to get up for this. She barges into his ratty apartment and doesn’t spar it a single glance despite never having been inside before. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto! Wake up! Sasuke left the village and we have to go get him. Send out a bunch of clones to let Haruno know to meet us at the North gate in the next twenty minutes!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t stop to wait for him. Doesn’t bother answering his confused yelp of panic. He heard her, he has his orders. Questions can wait until later. She bolts back out the door and through the streets. Doesn’t stop until she arrives at the meeting spot. She appears at the same time as nearly everyone but Naruto. Even Haruno is here before him. They have five minutes before they have to leave, with or without him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alright. As you all know, Uchiha Sasuke has left the village about eight hours ago. Likely traveling with a few of Orochimaru’s guys. Katsumi and I are co-captains for the this mission. Our objective is to locate and retrieve Uchiha Sasuke alive before he crosses the border. Kiba, that blood on Katsumi’s face is Uchiha’s. Is that enough for you to track by?” Shikamaru sounds like his father as he speaks. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kiba glances over and leans right into Katsumi’s face to sniff the dried blood. She narrows her eyes at the sudden invasion of her space but doesn’t growl. They know where they stand with each other and now isn’t the time for arguments. He flashes her an apologetic smile before turning to Shikamaru. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah man, that’s more than enough.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Good. Let’s move.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0071"><h2>71. Chapter 71</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They move fast, Kiba in the lead to follow the scent better. It’s clear whoever Sasuke is with, they’re making a beeline for the land of sound. Katsumi knows they’re moving as fast as possible but it still doesn’t feel like enough. She and Shikamaru are directly behind Kiba and Akamaru and both boys keep shooting her wary glances. They know probably better than anyone, except maybe Naruto, how hard she’s trying to hold it together. Neji is periodically sweeping the area with his Byakugan as they go. Katsumi’s hearing is as strong as she can make it and she still can’t hear Sasuke’s heartbeat. It’s terrifying and stressful and how dare he do this? Naruto is alternating between cursing Sasuke’s entire lineage and cursing everyone else for not being able to move faster. Haruno is grimly silent at Katsumi’s side and even Choji is utterly serious, food for once entirely out of sight. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They’re eight hours behind Sasuke. It takes thirty-six to make it to the border. They’ve been moving for five hours now. They only have twenty-three hours left to close the gap. Less if they want to catch him before the border. Even a few minutes late and the mission will fail. They can’t follow him passed the border. Katsumi has to resist screaming in frustration. The odds of being able to catch up in time are too low for her taste. Especially if Sasuke isn’t stopping anywhere. It’s only been five hours since leaving and it already feels hopeless. Even as fast as they’re going it doesn’t feel like any progress is being made. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Kiba suddenly stops and drops to the ground, Katsumi wants to shriek. The group follows him and watches in tense silence as he paces the clearing he stopped in. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“They stopped here. For a long time. There’s six other scents than just Sasuke’s. One is strange though. Like two people but not quite? They were here maybe six hours ago? Smells like blood too. They were fighting here. It’s a lot stronger than the trail we’ve been following.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right. Let’s keep going. Right now we have numbers on our side and the gaps closing. We can’t afford to waste that.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru’s eyes are stony as he speaks, his eyes linger on her for just a moment and he gives her a nearly imperceptible nod. Katsumi knows he’s aware of how much this matters. A two hour delay and a fight. That’s good news. Katsumi can live with that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They move again and Kiba falls into step beside her for a moment. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey, remember not to lose your head. Right now this team is pack, got it? You’re alpha bitch today. You have to stay calm.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Alpha bitch. Katsumi snorts a bit at that. She nods at him though. He’s right, she can’t let her instincts rule her today. This requires all her focus. She’s not a subordinate today. She doesn’t get to be emotional. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Six hours behind. Five hours in. Twenty-nine to catch him. Possible injuries or chakra exhaustion in their opponents. Katsumi can appreciate those odds a bit better. It settles something in her chest. She manages to force her emotions down. Panic, worry, anger. Those things don’t belong on this mission. Just like guilt and grief didn’t belong on the mission in Wave. There’s no space for any of that. She can feel everything when this is done. Not a moment before. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kiba must be satisfied with whatever he reads from her face, because he moves back to the front. They’re closing in slowly, Kiba’s nose is a gift. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Neji, move up to the front with Kiba. We’re only six hours behind, at most. We’re going to need your eyes soon.” Katsumi doesn’t look to Shikamaru for confirmation, they need everything they can get and stumbling onto Sasuke and his escorts unprepared is not a sound plan. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hyuuga doesn’t argue with her. Doesn’t question. Just moves into place beside the Inuzuka. Katsumi can only hear things up to a two kilometers away at best. Her ears will let them know a general location first, but his eyes will actually be able to tell them details that she could never give. He’s needed where he can see best at all times. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto, you’re the trap specialist. They’re likely expecting pursers now. Which means I need you up here watching for them too.” Shikamaru’s voice is flat and to the point. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto stops cursing Sasuke’s entire existence and moves forward to switch places with Haruno. Hopefully he can recognize the signs of any traps these people laid out. It’s probably going to be necessary. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They end up having to circle around trap after trap. All of which Naruto scoffs at for their sloppiness. Katsumi would scold him, but knowing the traps are badly done is important. It means they’re moving. Still. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi can hear heartbeats faintly, five. Though the fifth is weak. And one almost sounds like it’s echoing? Strange. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Five heartbeats two kilometers out.” Why are they catching up so quickly? </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Shikamaru nods once and makes the gesture for silence. She understands, if she can hear them, there’s no assurance they aren’t being listened to as well. They can’t mask heartbeats but they can mask conversation. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Naruto raises a hand for them to stop, Katsumi feels the tension in the team shoot up. He’s kneeling on the ground staring hard at a thin wire pulled tight between two trees. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“There’s two. The second is hidden. This is a lot less messy than the others.” Naruto’s voice is tight as he speaks lowly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neater than the others. Her eyes catch Shikamaru’s and she knows he’s already figured it out. They’ve stopped. Close by too. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can hear the heartbeats loud and steady. Fast though, they haven’t been resting long. The fifth is weak though. So slow she hardly hears it. It worries her. If that’s Sasuke, he needs a medic. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hyuuga steps forward and Katsumi watches as the veins bulge around his eyes and she waits for the verdict. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Four shinobi with a coffin. They’re fifty meters ahead. At rest.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“A coffin?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hyuuga clearly pauses for a moment, before, “yes. Sasuke is in it.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s a long silence following that. Kiba is the one to break it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Are you saying he’s dead?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi shakes her head once, “No. I can hear a five heartbeats. One is a lot slower than the rest but it’s there. He’s not dead yet.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right. Katsumi, take Naruto and circle around to the right. Sakura take Kiba and Choji and circle left. Neji and I will move from the front. Wait for my signal to do anything.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They’re about to move when Naruto’s hand shoots out to stop them again. He’s staring down at the wires again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Naruto?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“There’s a third one. It’s almost impossible to spot. It’s a lot thinner than the others, dattebayo. Closer to a thread than a wire.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Thank Kami for Sensei encouraging Naruto’s love of traps. The boy can spot just about any of them now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shit. Neji? We’re going to have to keep a close eye for more. Everyone continue with the plan. Now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The team splits. It’s slow going and more than once Katsumi can pinpoint exactly where her teammates by movements alone. She’s going to make them all train with Genma-San when this over. He’d be able to rectify that. Her chakra is locked down tight and she ends up well behind Naruto. It seems he’s too worked up for slow. No matter how many times she tells him to go slower, go smoother. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They end up tucked into the thick branches of a pair of trees about fifteen meters from the shinobi. Three men and a woman. Katsumi’s head pounds and for a moment she sees monstrous looking creatures in their places. Whoever these people are, this isn’t going to be an easy time, but she knew that going in. Katsumi can hear her teammates moving into position. Can hear their hearts beating out of their chests. Naruto is struggling to stay still in the tree beside her. He’s going to give his position away if he doesn’t knock it off. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi lets her eyes slide to where Shikamaru and Hyuuga should be. Whatever the signal is, it better be obvious. And it better be soon. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s tense and her eyes keep moving back to the Oto nin. Not the coffin. She can’t look at the thrice damned coffin right now. It will still be there when this is over. Her eyes linger on the white haired man. He’s the one with the echoing heartbeat. She knows though, he’s not going to be the threat first. Her headache is increasing and when she looks at the biggest man, she just knows he’s going to be the first opponent. Understanding hits. Four Oto nin. Seven of them. They have the numbers but Oto has the power. And they’re goal is to get to the border quickly. The only way to do that is going to be a relay race of sorts most likely. It’s Konoha that fights in groups. Not Oto. There’s a reason only Konoha is known for its teamwork. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi is flooded with memories for a second of exactly that happening. With only the boys here for it though. It’s ugly and they fail. There’s seven now, though. Not five. That means maybe they can prevent that from happening altogether. If they play this smart. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The man with multiple arms is standing up out of nowhere. Shit. Katsumi knows exactly where this is heading. Sure enough, a kunai is flung and there’s an explosive tag on it and Neji and Shikamaru are being forced into sight. Katsumi has just enough time to deafen herself before the tag goes off. This is bad. Seeing the pair alone on the ground in front of four Oto nin that are definitely stronger than them makes her blood run cold. She doesn’t hear what’s said. Too worried to remember to increase her hearing back because all she can think is that these Oto nin will be her comrades death if she doesn’t figure out how to stop the images in her head from happening. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s not prepared for her team to suddenly be yanked from their hiding spots by strings from the six armed man. Has to force a yelp down when she feels the hitai-ate around her neck get ripped from her neck by a string that attached itself to there. The knot works as intended though and while her neck hurts from the force of the pull, she’s not moved from her spot in the trees. This isn’t good. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches Kiba flick a smoke bomb into the air. She wants to scream that that’s pointless. She can hear the Oto nin mocking the weak display. When the smoke clears though, she can see Shikamaru’s shadow holding all four shinobi. Her hitai-ate is gone too. A quick glance at Naruto explains that. The pocket of his jump suit is slightly fuller than it should be. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has three choices she can see: join the team, try to get the coffin alone, or do nothing. Doing nothing isn’t an option she’s willing to consider. Her eyes slide to the coffin. as long as Shikamaru’s shadow holds, she should be able to grab it and go. She’ll have to be fast, really fast. If Shikamaru’s shadow fails while she’s still there, she’s dead. It’s the best plan she has, though. But she doesn’t want their opponents to see her. Doesn’t want them to know where the coffin has gone. Katsumi stretches her chakra out searching for water. It’s not a lot. Damn. Not enough for her mist unless she wants to use most of her chakra gathering it. Sasuke chose a dry day to run. A second smoke bomb it is.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t give herself time to second guess, can’t afford to risk wasting anymore time. She flings a smoke bomb behind the Oto nin. Pauses just long enough to confirm Shikamaru is still holding them in place and <em>moves</em>. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The coffin is so much heavier than it looks and Katsumi already knows she won’t be able to outrun the Oto nin with it. She makes it back up to the trees though and bolts back behind her people. She wants to curse when she looks back at them. The smoke has cleared and one of the ninja set off a trap that startled Shikamaru and now all four are able to move again. Katsumi’s arms are tense around the coffin. She wants to make a beeline for Konoha, but not without her team. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She hears the Kunoichi yelling about the coffin. Hears Shikamaru tell the others to fallback. Almost sags in relief because now they can get out of here. That’s not how it works out. Before any of her team can move, the big man has done some type of earth jutsu and there’s a dome surrounding all six of her teammates. Fuck. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s out here, alone with no back up coming and her team caught, with the three other Oto nin all looking for her, and a too heavy coffin with her friend inside it slowing her down. She’s going to throttle Sasuke if she survives this. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0072"><h2>72. Chapter 72</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Logically, she knows the rules state to complete a mission at any cost. The mission is everything, and completing it is literally in her grasp. Maybe if she’d had any other sensei she would have abandoned her comrades and run for Konoha. Sent back up when she made it to the village and prayed they wouldn’t return with corpses. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei taught her though. And she’s never forgotten his lesson. Comrades over everything. The problem is she has a comrade in a coffin she needs to get back to Konoha and six comrades being held in a giant earth dome. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The result is possibly the most high stakes game of hide and seek through the woods she’s ever heard of. She’s been in a near constant state of using Kawarimi whenever one of the Oto nins’ heartbeats get too close to her. For the first time, this jutsu is beginning to wear away at her chakra reserves. Doing it while holding another person increases the chakra drain exponentially. Combine that with how much she’s having to do it and she’s well aware she’s only delaying the inevitable. Eventually one of them will catch her, either because she runs out of chakra or because they find her too quickly for her to run, but it will happen.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can’t help the team, but she won’t leave them either. It reminds her of a doe she’d seen once who had to watch its fawn get killed by stray dogs. Unable to help, unwilling to leave. Katsumi never imagined being that doe. She would laugh but she’s too focused on not being found to make a sound. She’s starting to wonder if she’s actually in hell, this feels like the kind of repetitive spikes of terror and never ending stress that one would find there. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can hear the team inside the dome. Voices and heartbeats and the sound of a body striking rock. She has no idea what they’re doing in there, but she needs them out now. She won’t run without them, and she can’t survive much longer without them either. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can hear the increasing frustration of the Oto nin hunting her. The white haired one has split into two people and now she’s being chased by four people and her chances of surviving as slipping away with every second. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi has a stack of fifty paper bombs. None of them the weak flash bangs she used against Shikamaru. She starts slapping them down every time she has to Kawarimi and triggering them the second she’s hidden. They don’t seem do much, mostly earning her curses from the girl and threats from the men. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi knows Anko and Genma both use poison smoke bombs and Katsumi wishes desperately that she’d thought to ask them to teach her how to make those. She would be more than willing to risk accidentally poisoning herself right now. As it is, her only viable options are Kawarimi and paper bombs for the foreseeable future. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eventually something has to change. Something has to give. The Oto nin won’t give up and they’ll have to kill her if they want Sasuke. It’s an untenable situation. She needs to find a way to get her team out of that damned prison or they need to get themselves out. Katsumi’s just not sure if either of those things will happen before she’s caught. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi pops a soldier pill in her mouth and swallows. It’s not safe to take more than four a day, but she has a bad feeling she’s going to have to be popping them like candy if she wants any chance of survival. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With her next Kawarimi she has a clear view of the man holding the dome. It reminds her of Zabuza’s water prison and a plan starts to form. If she can force him to let go, the team may be able to get out. She’s sure Shikamaru has come up with his own plan by this point but she needs them out now. She can’t hold out much longer. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can only do this once. And it will immediately give away her position. Katsumi is forced to set the coffin down as she ties paper tags to four of her Kunai. She would be more conservative with her gear usually, but she has a single chance. She has to make it count. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She throws them at the man in quick succession and doesn’t wait to see if they work. She grabs the coffin again and kawarimi’s with a fallen log she spotted earlier to the northwest of her position. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The explosions go off and she hears even more shouts of anger at the same time she hears a huge body slam into rock. Katsumi can hear the dome giving. Can hear her team’s voices so much clearer now that they’re free. Now she just needs to get back to them. They can’t afford this fight if they have any other options. They need to run. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi doesn’t get a chance. Before she can lift the coffin again and move, there’s a massive arrow piercing through her right shoulder and pinning her to the tree behind her. She’s not able to hold back her scream. Being stabbed in the invasion doesn’t even begin to compare to this. Katsumi can hear the shouts of her teammates, and distantly recognizes the man with six arms is the one who shot her and that he’s saying something, but she can barely tell above the pain. There’s no massive surge adrenaline already in her veins this time to dull the pain. She can barely focus on anything but the arrow in her shoulder and the blood seeping out around it. Fuck. There’s a massive artery in that area that leads to her arm. If that got hit, there’s a legitimate chances she’s going to die here. Pulling the arrow out would only increase the rate she bleeds out. As far as she knows none of her team are medics. She’s officially useless. What she wouldn’t give to have Naruto’s healing ability. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She watches a wooden barrier shots up between her and the Oto nin before he can reach the coffin. Haruno. Smart of her. The barrier closes over both her and the coffin in a mocking parody of the earth dome they’d just gotten out off with Katsumi and the tree she’s stuck to at the center. It leaves her in the pitch black with no idea what’s happening around her and nothing to do but wait to either bleed out or go into shock. Whichever comes first. She focuses on keeping her breathing steady, it’s hard to get enough air and Katsumi has the fleeting thought that maybe it was her lung and not her shoulder that got impaled. Maybe she’ll actually drown in her own blood instead. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can do nothing but listen to the sound of her team fighting. Listen to Shikamaru yell orders and metal hitting metal and somewhere there’s a flute playing and Katsumi already knows this isn’t going to end in their favor. She’s trapped here and all she can do is wait to die and listen to her friends fighting outside. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The ground beneath her shatters apart and she screams in agony again as her body is jostled hard enough to cause the arrow to move up in her shoulder. It’s absolutely the most grotesque and agonizing sensation she’s ever experienced. The barrier holds though. Katsumi wonders distantly just how strong Haruno actually is. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s not going to sit back and do nothing. She may be stuck to a tree but she’s still able to move one arm. She has no idea how long the wood release barrier can hold. Katsumi swallows four more soldier pills and tries to ignore the fact it’s going to do a number on her body. Katsumi has no idea if her plan will even work if someone gets through the barrier. Katsumi isn’t even sure its possible but it’s all she has. She digs through her weapons pounce until she finds her anticoagulant poison and opens it, trying not to scream as the movement pulls at her shoulder again. The poison is just a powder suspended in water really, logic follows if she can draw the water to her using her chakra, the poison should come with it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s only tried one hand seals with her mist before. The results weren’t anything magnificent, but she doesn’t need a fully functioning jutsu. She only needs to cut deep enough once if her poison plan works. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She uses as much of her chakra as possible to draw what little water from the air along with her poison to her, forces her good arm through the first three hand seals. Ox. Snake. Dog. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She can feel the chakra and water and poison resting just above her skin. It feels coiled, a spring waiting to be released. There’s not enough water for the full circumference of her jutsu, but she only needs it to work for the area around the coffin. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi can feel her fingers start to go numb and she wonders how dark her vision would be if this little wooden cage wasn’t so dark. The ground under her breaks again and she has to fight not to let go of the water and chakra primed around her. She doesn’t fight the scream of pain though. She watches, panting from pain as the wood in front of her cracks and bits of light seep through. When the wood breaks entirely, it’s the Kunoichi standing there and she’s got black marks across her face and she looks pissed. Katsumi bares her teeth at her but she doesn’t even acknowledge her. Just steps through the broken barrier and goes to lift the coffin. Far too close to Katsumi for her to be safe. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ram. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Water and poison shoot out towards the Oto nin. Not a lot and not with the force it normally would have, but enough. The woman is jumping back with a screech of fury and Katsumi is grinning in grim triumph. She can see where the water shrapnel pierced the woman’s arms and face and left dozens of cuts along her neck. They aren’t deep, but if the poison does it’s work, it hopefully will be enough. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Little rat! Don’t you know you’re supposed to be dead?” The woman is furious and there’s not much else Katsumi can do, pinned to a tree like this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Still. She forces herself to move through the pain even as spots dance in her eyes and manages to fling a few Kunai at the woman. Katsumi watches her dodge them like they’re nothing and knows she’s not going to be able to prevent her from taking Sasuke. The Kunoichi doesn’t even bother to kill her, just grabs the coffin and goes. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi does the only thing she can. She flares her chakra in the Konoha Standard pattern for back up needed and prays at least one of her team notices and gets here. One does. Haruno. She looks like she’s seen better days but she’s in a lot better condition than Katsumi. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oto Kunoichi has coffin. If able, I need you to pursue. Take as many people from the team as you can.” Katsumi doesn’t like the idea of separation, but this mission can’t fail. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Haruno looks her over for a moment but nods, “understood. Ishihara? Try to hold on, we’re only a few hours from the village, we’ll get you back but you have to fight until then.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi coughs and tastes blood in her mouth. “I’ll do my best. Now go!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi hears Haruno call out for Shikamaru and Naruto. So they can only afford to send three people. Damnit. Katsumi isn’t sure that will be enough. That leaves Choji, Neji, and Kiba here. With three of the Oto nin, four if she counts the whole temporarily conjoined twin thing. She understands the logic though. Shikamaru is the squad leader, Naruto is a chakra power house and Haruno has the mokuton. Those three should be able to get Sasuke back as long as the rest of the team keeps the Oto nin occupied. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi’s vision is fading in and out and all she can really focus on is the disturbing sight of a giant arrow sticking out of her. What a mess. Naruto better punch Sasuke for her. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0073"><h2>73. Chapter 73</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi watches through half closed eyes and blurry vision as Choji stumbles towards her and collapses at her feet. Neji is on the ground not far from them, and if she had the chakra for it, she’d be listening for his heartbeat. Katsumi can barely feel her limbs anymore and the only reason she’s not laid out on the ground too is the arrow in her shoulder forcing to stand. She thinks she can hear Kiba still fighting but it’s far off and she couldn’t begin to guess if she’s right or not. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey Katsu. I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’re gonna be able to catch up to the others.” Choji’s voice is soft and resigned. If she had the energy, she’d be angry because that’s not the way his voice should ever sound. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Didn’t... you hear... Haruno? We... just gotta hold on... they’ll come back for us.” Katsumi has to fight for the breath needed to speak. Haruno’s words are the only thing she’s been clinging to. They just have to hold on for a little longer.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi can’t even lift her head enough to check the trees for their comrades’ return anymore. She’s lost too much blood and chakra and she’s feeling the effects of overdosing on soldier pills now. Her whole body is cold and she started to shake not long ago and she can barely process what’s happening anymore. She’s holding onto consciousness through sheer willpower and soon enough that won’t be enough anymore. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Choji doesn’t respond and Katsumi wonders who’s going to find their corpses first. That’s what all three of them are now. Her and Choji and Neji. Just a bunch of corpses in the woods. They might not be dead yet but they might as well be. Distantly, she wonders if Tou-San will attend her funeral. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi barely notices when her eyes slide shut. Doesn’t register her knees giving out or the pain in her shoulder as the arrow supports her weight. She’s fading fast and whatever happens next isn’t her concern anymore. Soon enough she stops registering anything at all. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She comes back to consciousness a bit when someone is yelling in her ears and she can feel that the arrow is gone and there’s hands covering the wound and her only thought is that Haruno must have kept her word. Katsumi isn’t above letting herself fade out again. The mission must be over now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next thing she knows is a strange combination of soothing warmth and pure agony in her shoulder. She thinks she’s screaming, but she can barely think passed the pain. She can’t even open her eyes and after what she’s sure must be a lifetime of pain, it fades away and she sinks back into the dark. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she opens her eyes after what feels like an eternity she’s half expecting to have died and been reincarnated again. So it’s a surprise to her when she’s greeted by the sight of a white ceiling. There’s the beeping of Machines to her right and she can’t decide if she’s happy she’s not dead or annoyed because she’s in the hospital again. There’s a tube going down her throat and Katsumi feels like she’s going to choke on it. The beeping speeds up as she begins to panic and soon enough there’s medics surrounding her and it’s overwhelming and she has to fight not to panic even more. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ishihara! Please calm down! You’re safe, you’re in the hospital in Konoha. The tube is only there to help you breath. If you can hold still for a moment, we can remove it now that you’re awake and replace it with a nasal cannula.” The medic’s tone is soothing but firm. Katsumi gets the feeling they’d sedate her if they weren’t worried about her not waking up again. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi manages to curb her panicking and the tube is removed quick and efficiently. Almost immediately there’s tubes being taped to her face and placed into her nose. It’s weird but she likes it infinitely more than the other tube. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She ends up staring at the medics as the run through her vitals and check her injuries. She honestly didn’t expect to make it back. Does this mean the mission was a success? Shit, are her teammates okay?</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She struggles for a moment to speak, her throat is dry and her head is foggy and she thinks she’s been asleep for awhile. Finally she manages to croak out, “... my team?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The medic updating the chart on the end of her bed glances up, “Your team is in recovery. No causalities.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">No casualties. Good. Katsumi can live with that. She thinks that’s often the best case scenario for missions. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You can worry about your team and that mission later. When you’re up for it, you can have visitors. Right now you need to focus on getting better. okay, sweetie?” A different medic, younger than the others smiles down at her as she finishes checking over her injuries. Katsumi would be annoyed at being talked to like a little kid but she really just doesn’t care right now. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She’s alive, her team is alive, and she’s on the good drugs again. Everything else can wait. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So. Who thinks they managed to drag Sasuke back?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0074"><h2>74. Chapter 74</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei and Naruto are the first visitors she’s allowed. Naruto is still wrapped up in bandages but she’s willing to bet most of those are probably decorative by this point. Stupid Jinchūriki healing factor. Sensei’s porn is tucked away and he looks over her for a long time. Naruto is much less serious. He’s practically bouncing around the room. Her private room this time. Apparently no invasion means no roommates. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We did it, Katsumi-chan! I mean we had to nearly kill him to do it and T&amp;I has him but we brought him back, Dattebayo! Oh, he’s missing an eye too, but I think that’s fine, Sensei gets around perfectly with just one eye! Right, Sensei?” Naruto pauses to look up at the silver haired man. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, Naruto, of course.” Sensei pats the boy’s head once. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“An eye?” Katsumi has a sneaking suspicion that maybe she shouldn’t have aimed for his face when she clawed him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Uh yeah, dattebayo! An eye, it was really nasty looking too when I saw it. There were claw marks around it and I don’t think girls are gonna think he’s pretty anymore.” Naruto scratches the back of his neck and and makes a gesture across his face like he’s demonstrating how big it looks. Oh, she definitely did that. She’d feel worse about it if he hadn’t defected and had to be dragged back. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sensei? What’s going to happen to Sasuke? He defected even if we brought him back?” Katsumi has to tilt her head back against the pillow to look up at him properly. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, T&amp;I has to process him, I imagine he’s not going to be allowed out of the village for a very long time. Jiraiya is going to study his curse mark and see if he can’t find a way to unravel it and in the mean time I believe the Yamanaka’s are going to be working with him. All of that is best case scenario, of course.” Sensei sounds entirely devoid of emotion as he speaks. Like he’s already emotionally separated himself from the Uchiha. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And worst case scenario?” Naruto is squinting up at Kakashi-Sensei suspiciously. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, they’ll study the curse mark, see if they can’t learn anything useful from him and likely end up executing him. After taking DNA samples.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“DNA samples?” Katsumi doesn’t like the sound of that. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The sharingan is a valuable dojutsu that has to be either implanted or inherited. Currently they’re in limited supply so no implants are possible. I’m sure you can guess the solution.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No..?” Naruto looks baffled. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“He means they’ll kill him and use his DNA to make loyal Uchiha babies.” Katsumi understands why Sensei is devoid of emotions talking about their wayward teammate now. Worst case scenario is pretty bad. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What?! They can’t do that!” Naruto looks outraged. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s the Hokage’s and the council’s decision, Naruto, they’ll do what they think is best.” Kakashi-sensei looks resigned. Katsumi wonders if he’s written off Sasuke as a lost cause. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto looks mutinous at that and is jumping through her hospital window before anyone can stop him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Um, Sensei? Is he discharged yet?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nope.” Sensei looks mildly proud of Naruto for escaping the Hospital. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right... Sensei? What’s going to happen to team seven now that I’m a Chuunin and Sasuke is a defector? Criminal?” Katsumi isn’t even sure what to call Sasuke. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa Katsumi-chan, we actually need to discuss that. Naruto will be leaving with Jiraiya for a few years on a training trip and since Sasuke is currently residing in Ibiki’s basement, it’s just you and me. Officially, team seven will be dissolved, but I’m allowed to take a Chuunin on as an apprentice if I want. So we could sign that paperwork and I’ll get to continue torture one of my favorite students, or we could go our separate ways. Up to you entirely. Though if you accept, training is going to be a lot harder.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“An apprenticeship?” Katsumi wasn’t aware a Chuunin could be taken as an apprentice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My specialty is tracking. It’s a good specialty to start in. Gives you a lot of options for moving into other fields. Think about it and when you’re cleared for missions again you can give me your answer.” He eye smiles down at her and she thinks it seems more genuine than normal. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hai, Sensei,” Katsumi can feel herself getting tired. Her eyelids are drooping and she’s struggling to follow the conversation. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maa, get some sleep, you did well.” She feels his hand ruffle her hair as she drifts off. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she wakes up again, a little less drugged up and a little more aware, the oxygen tubes have been removed from her nose, and there’s a giant pile of flowers on the little table by the bed. There’s so many. Mostly bright and vibrant colors that hurt her eyes after so much time either sleeping or staring at white walls and a white ceiling. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Most of those are from Ino and Okaa-san. Some are from Hinata. Gai left the really big ones, with a note about youthfulness or something. Ahh, those ones in the corner are from a guy named Hayase, with a card saying that you can trade jutsu when you’re better.” Shikamaru’s voice drawls from the other side of her bed. He sounds exhausted. Sounds like all the life has been sucked out of him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she turns her head to look at him she’s taken aback by just how worn he looks. There are bags under his eyes and his hair is falling out of the spiky ponytail he keeps it in and his clothes look like they’ve been slept in. Like he hasn’t changed in a few days. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s kind of them. Don’t let me forget to thank them when I get a chance.” Katsumi murmurs, more interested in whatever ever is clearly wrong with Shikamaru. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Fuck, Katsumi, I’m sorry-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Did someone die?” Katsumi doesn’t give him a chance to finish. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No, no one died, but I left you. Stuck to a fucking tree. To go hunt a traitor down. Left Choji and Neji and Kiba to face down those freaks.” Shikamaru looks absolutely torn apart by it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I ordered Sakura to take whoever she could and give chase. I was your co-captain on the mission. It was as much my decision to be left as it was yours to leave me. The mission was a success and no one died, Shikamaru. That’s something to be proud of.” Katsumi certainly isn’t upset she was left on that tree. None of them could remove the arrow without risking her bleeding out and the mission needed to be completed. It was the only choice any of them had. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He doesn’t look reassured. He looks like he thinks he should be demoted. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If I’d been more careful, or planned better, maybe none of you would have nearly died. Maybe you wouldn’t have been alone being hunted.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No one died, Shikamaru. The mission was a success. Sending freshly promoted Chuunin and a handful of genin after those Oto nin? On paper that’s a recipe for dead bodies and a failed mission. I think a hospital trip was going to happen no matter what we did.” Katsumi gives him a wry grin. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He nods weakly, conceding the point, before giving her a darkly amused grin in return, “good job on that eye, by the way. Sasuke looks much better with just one.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi feels her face heat up in mild embarrassment. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“How many people know I did that?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Most of the village, I’d say. You’re real bad about ending up in the rumor mill. Troublesome woman.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0075"><h2>75. Chapter 75</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi ends up in physical therapy for her shoulder alongside Neji who managed to get a near matching injury. It’s painful and exhausting, but they get through it together. She finds Neji is a good therapy partner as she’s taken to calling him. While he’s not overly encouraging or talkative, he’s patient and whenever she starts getting frustrated and wants to quit, he doesn’t hesitate to tell her to keep moving. That giving up isn’t an option. She suspects he learned that from Naruto. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sometimes they talk afterwards and the first time Gai-San comes up, Katsumi takes great pleasure at the mild horror that crosses his face. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Gai-San is a lot calmer now, I’m sure he’s an excellent Sensei.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Calmer?” Katsumi hides a smile by taking a sip of water at the hesitant confusion in the boy’s voice. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Mhmm, when I was little, like toddler age, he used to babysit me while my Otou-San was away. He was much more excitable then. The word “moderation” wasn’t part of his vocabulary.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“He... babysat you?” She thinks Neji looks a bit green. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sure did. Lots of training. So much Running. And push ups. And everything really.” Katsumi has to pause and think. Gai-San really didn’t know how to go easy on a toddler. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m... sure.” Oh, Neji definitely looks green at the thought. Katsumi is extremely proud to have put that expression on the stoic Hyuuga’s face. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The day she’s released from the hospital, Yoshino-san and Shikamaru are there to walk with her to the Nara compound. Shikamaru is clearly trying not to just pick her up and carry her the whole way, while Yoshino-San and Katsumi studiously ignore his hovering. Katsumi smiles as Yoshino goes on about everything that’s happened while she’s been in the hospital. Mostly clan drama, with no mention of Sasuke and the chaos his attempted defection causes. Katsumi is extremely thankful for that. She’s torn between being hurt by Sasuke’s actions and furious at him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That night it’s not her that needs to curl up beside someone to sleep. It’s Shikamaru who slips quietly into her room and settles beside her, one hand on her back the whole night like he’s checking her breathing or heartbeat. She can hear his shuddering breaths and feel a slight tremble in his hand and murmurs sleepily to him that everyone is okay. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eventually the entire team is called in before the Hokage and council to give their official reports. It takes a long time, and Katsumi barely pays attention the entire time, too focused on not blatantly staring at Shimura Danzo’s bandaged arm. She’s going to figure those memories out. Whatever they are, they’re important. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the reports are finished, Lady Tsunade has Katsumi and Naruto remain behind. When Kakashi-Sensei slips inside through the window, Katsumi has a sinking feeling about where this is headed. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tsunade’s elbows rest on her desk and her hands prop up her chin as she observes the trio for a minute. Finally she sighs and says, “as his team and the people that know Uchiha Sasuke best, I’d like to hear what each of you thinks should be done with him.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There’s a silence as they process that, unsurprisingly it’s Naruto that speaks first. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You can’t kill him, dattebayo! He made a mistake and that seal curse thingy on his neck made him crazy! You can’t kill him!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We all know your thoughts on the matter, brat. I want to hear Hatake’s and Ishihara’s now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Kakashi-Sensei steps forward first, face utterly devoid of emotion, “Uchiha Sasuke abandoned his village in a failed attempt to join an enemy of Konoha. This directly resulted in the near deaths of three genin and a Chuunin. One of them his own teammate. I don’t suggest we kill him, but he needs more than a slap on the wrist.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Thank you, Hatake. Ishihara? What say you?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi takes a deep breath and meets the Hokage’s eyes. Sasuke was one of her people, and she was willing to die for him. He made his choice though.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“He’s a traitor. You made it clear that the mission was a recovery mission, not an execution. So let him live with whatever consequences his choices have brought him.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Hokage nods seriously, her eyes hard as steel. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll take those opinions into consideration. Dismissed.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The night before Naruto is supposed to leave, the two end up sitting on the Yondaime’s head for the last time. It’s a full moon and it makes the village look beautiful. Katsumi hesitates for a moment, not sure if she should mention it, but it’s his truth. He deserves to know. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You know Naruto, I was at the memorial stone visiting my Okaa-san and I saw something I think you might be interested in.” It’s a plausible enough lie. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah? What’s that?” He tilts his head back to look at her. In the moonlight his eyes are a silvery color that Katsumi thinks suits him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I saw a name. By the Yondaime’s. Uzumaki Kushina. And I was thinking. You look a lot like him,” Katsumi stands up and stretches, “just something to think about. Walk me home?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto for once is speechless, his eyes are practically bulging out of his head in shock as he processes what she said. He’s not stupid, regardless of popular opinion, she knows it won’t take him long to make the connection. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When they reach the Nara compound, before she can say goodnight, he’s grabbing her in a tight hug and spinning her around, loud, joyful laughter pouring out of his mouth. Before she can react his lips on meeting hers in a quick kiss that seems to startle him as much as it does her. He doesn’t act awkward though, just grins and rubs the back of his head. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re the best, Katsumi-Chan! I’ll drop by tomorrow before I leave to say goodbye! Believe it!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Katsumi laughs at him, “I don’t doubt it. Sleep well, Naruto.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Naruto never notices the little coded list and cipher she tucked into his wallet when he hugged her. Hopefully, Jiraiya sees it. He’s supposed to be a spy master. Until she can remember more, that list will have be enough. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next day, an hour after Naruto departs, she signs the paperwork to become Kakashi-Sensei’s official apprentice. Katsumi may not be able to remember a lot, but she knows she needs to be ready for what’s coming. If anyone will be able to prepare her, it’s Kakashi. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They don’t mention Sasuke, who’s been placed in the Yamanaka’s psych ward for the foreseeable future. They don’t mention Naruto, who’s left them behind. They don’t mention her father, who was gone long before he actually left. Sensei just pats her head and calls her his ferocious little hunting hound. Coming from him, she’s certain it’s a compliment. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So this is the end of part one! Part two will be up within the next week! I’m working on the outline this week! It will be between 15-25 chapters covering the 2 year time gap! If any of y’all have title ideas I’d love to hear them, because I am stumped! Thank you all so much for reading! Y’all are the greatest! Until that’s up don’t forget to check for the Outtakes, as more of those will be coming up in the meantime!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First time writing a fic! If you like it, hit kudos! Would love to hear your opinions so comments very welcome!</p><p>Come yell at me on tumblr: coffee-fueled-insomniac-writer</p><p>Check out The Hands That Hold the Crown for Outtakes from this story!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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